Stargate Millennium: Way of Shadows
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off: Thanks to the Furlings, the Millennium Expedition has gotten the chance to visit their loved ones. They have one week to see their families again before heading back. Apparently, Earth's still having their own problems and if they don't solve these ones then Millennium will encounter many more.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Apologies for the delay but at the moment I am buried under a mountain of work so this was made between the lines of my spare time. Please review and enjoy.**_

Previously on Stargate Millennium

The Millennium Expedition has encountered the Stargate Council, a political extremist group that sees the SGC as a corrupt organization. Before attacking the expedition, they reveal they take their marching orders from a man they simply refer to as the Director. The conflict has left the city of Millennium in ruins and cost hundreds of lives. Seeking help, Wolf Pack was sent in search of the Furlings, the last race to be encountered in the Alliance of Four Great Races. The Furlings were still hesitant in trusting the humans of Earth but they did promise to give them a chance to prove themselves. As a gift, the Furlings gave the expedition two power sources, enough for a round trip to Earth and back, a chance for everyone to see their loved ones one last time.

-.-

The SGC has been running for over ten years. In that ten years, they have encountered both wonders and horrors of the universe and Earth has certainly made progress in making its presence felt. Three expeditions had been formed and sent thus far. One could easily contact Earth. The other was in the middle of its three year journey through the void of space. And the third, nobody knew if they would ever hear from them again. Getting an unscheduled incoming wormhole was one thing but to hear that it was that expedition, the Millennium Expedition was another. The conversation with the SGC was shorter than Mercer expected. What took the longest was convincing them of letting the bulk of the Millennium Expedition to return. They were leaving Millennium very open by doing this, but Mercer felt the risk was worth it. They could've saved the power sources, but Mercer felt they could bring back food and supplies to make up for the ones they lost. The General was convinced that this was the best course of action. The Furlings gave them these two power supplies for the sole purpose of visiting their loved ones on Earth and he was not denying any of them this opportunity. The iris was open and they all went through.

-.-

Christopher Umar muttered in agitation as he arrived at the airport. There was so much processing they all had to go through: medical screening, psychological evaluations, debriefings. He had also forgotten how hot southern Nigeria could be. He had to find a way to get to his house. But, he didn't need to. He didn't think much of the woman holding a cardboard sign at first, but then he realized it had his name written right on it. When he saw who was holding it, his knees just gave in. He's seen combat plenty of times but, seeing his wife after all this time, he could not move. She walked to him and embraced her husband.

-.-

Australia hadn't changed much since he left. Charles Martin was impatiently knocking on the front door of a house.

"Hello, is anyone in?!" he yelled. "My knuckles are bruising off your door. Hello?!" He practically jumped out of his skin when he heard a crash directly behind him. His sister had finally returned home with a bag of groceries. But, seeing her brother back from a trip he was never supposed to return from, that bag meant nothing as it hit the ground. Martin waved nervously.

"Hi?" he stuttered.

He didn't get another word out as his sister jumped on him, her head in his shoulder.

-.-

On the plane back to Britain, Kara Osborn had a pair of headphones to cancel out all the noise. She wanted to tell all these passengers what she has seen, what was waiting out there. She hated that the stargate was still classified.

The plane touched down and she quickly departed. She didn't think much of the man who walked up beside her as she left the airport until he removed an earpiece and said, "You're looking lost, stranger." She looked up. She knew that voice.

"Dad!" she gasped, grabbing her father in a tight embrace.

-.-

Jennifer Hailey did not have to endure a transcontinental plane ride since she lived right in America. The timing could not have been more perfect. Hailey's little sister was graduating college that day. She waited impatiently outside the basketball stadium where it happened as the graduates lined up. It was there they saw each other. The uniform, the face, it was unmistakable. The only mystery was which one was crying harder as the Hailey's hugged each other.

-.-

Nova raised her fist to knock on the door. It had been so long. It would've been easier to just not to this at all. They had a bad history but that was a long time ago. She gave a sigh, raised her fist, and gently knocked on the door. If they weren't home she could stall this. She prayed they weren't home. No luck. The door opened, a tall woman peeking out.

"Can I help you?" she asked nervously, not recognizing the person in front of her. This was a respectable woman, how could they recognize her? Nova gathered her nerves and finally spoke.

"Theresa Naves wanted me to stop by."

The expression on the woman's face changed. She couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness.

"What does she want?" the woman asked. Nova felt her blood run cold, every muscle telling her to just turn and leave, before finally saying it.

"I wanted to see how you were doing." The woman stared at Nova in confusion before realizing what she meant, her eyes widening in surprise. "Hello mother," Nova said with a weak smile.

Stargate

Millennium

Night had fallen on Earth and General William Mercer found himself walking about the cement corridors of the SGC alone. He thought he would never see this place again and the walk through it was surprisingly pleasant. His hands were folded behind his back, his eyes closed, as he considered the situation at hand. However, his face was tense and even if his eyes were open his expression would only be a glare. There was a lot to tell Earth about and he expected there to be repercussions. The Ror'char: an intergalactic civilization that has been studying and utilizing Alliance technology long before them. The Harvesters: an enigmatic race of creatures infamous for abducting the population of entire cities even planets. The Quinterans: a race of humans once declared to be the Fifth Race by the Ancients before their ascension but proceeded to squander the title by conquering every planet in sight.

He walked into one of the many offices in the buildings, usually reserved for government officials when they need to conduct business inside the SGC. This one in particular had already been reserved.

"Good evening…Mr. Dovelock," General Mercer said. "I believe you called." The wrinkly man with a head half full of hair looked up at the sound of his name.

"General," Luther Dovelock greeted. "I've been reading over the mission reports sent back from Millennium. I must admit I'm impressed with the performance of several of these teams."

"We did send the best," Mercer remarked. He never said it but he was proud of each and every member of the expedition. From the annoying Yuri Solotov to the overly ambitious Jennifer Hailey to the calm and collected Terra Nova, their performance had surpassed his every expectations.

"Well, the IOA believes we still might be able to filter out the best among them," Dovelock said, handing the General a small stack of papers. "Among the files sent back were the planets in your galaxy map that have had MALP's sent to them. We've compiled a list of planets you can send your teams to. This should test their skills and abilities." Mercer's eyes narrowed in agitation as he picked up the papers and began to sift through them as Dovelock continued talking. "Judging from the history of the SGC as well as reports from both Millennium and Atlantis, team performance is maximized when they have at least one alien to act as an advisor. You should find more in Caldwell 70 and attempt to recruit them to test this theory."

"Mr. Dovelock," Mercer spoke up, flipping through the papers he held. "Many of the planets suggested have been rated as incredibly dangerous. One has been marked as a Ror'char major city, two of them are Harvester hunting grounds. The addresses get continuously worse."

"That's the point," Luthor Dovelock pointed out impatiently. "General Mercer, suppose SG-1 were to be sent to any of the planets we recommended, knowing their reputation, do you have any doubt they could perform standard reconnaissance and get off the planet alive?"

"Perhaps not, but you are aware that if a team fails to live up to your expectations, they are likely killed," Mercer said grimly. Luthor did not reply, at least not immediately, but when he did, Mercer did not like the answer.

"As accomplished as SG-1 is, they were a loose cannon. Most of their successes were through pure luck. Imagine what we could do if we have a team with the same abilities that actually obeyed the regulations."

"In other words, you simply want to be the one who pulls the strings. You're disturbed by the marionette that can operate independently."

"It's not just that," Luthor argued. He knew William Mercer felt nothing but contempt toward politicians but he hoped the General could understand their position. "We admit, there have been successes because of the disregard toward protocol, but there have also been several very close calls because of it too. What are we to do if the SGC had failed to contain one alien incursion because SG-1 chose to disobey? Besides, the IOA's disregarding a lot of protocol letting you lead the Millennium Expedition."

"Because of Am-heh?" Mercer asked. Am-heh was the symbiote that resided within General Mercer, a former Goa'uld, a former ashrak, a killer, a monster. "Need I remind you that the Tok'ra are still a dying race and the galaxy of Caldwell 70 may just hold the cure? As allies of the Tau'ri, you are obliged to help."

"It's not that we don't want to help the Tok'ra. It's the symbiote you have."

"The SGC has worked with former enemies in the past. Why is this any different?"

"What we think is irrelevant. The different political parties involved with the SGC are to meet and discuss the repercussions of the Millennium Expedition."

Before the two of them could continue talking, the phone on the desk began to ring.

"Dovelock," Luthor greeted. He paused to listen to the person on the other side. Mercer remained quiet while Luthor had his conversation but he could tell from the man's expression that something had come up.

-.-

It was getting late and Terra Nova decided to leave her mother's house. She remembered her childhood here. There were no pictures on the shelves like most households. Likely the pain they brought was too great for her parents to keep. All Terra could wonder is what would happen if her life had played out differently. She became involved with the Stargate Program because she was in the Air Force and she only joined the Air Force to try to make up for who she used to be. What would happen if she hadn't become that self-entitled brat?

She wanted to visit her father but it was late and the cemetery was already closed. She could only stand outside and stare past the fence. Last she saw him, last she saw her family at all, she was a teenager storming out the door with a trunk full of stuff and screaming at them how she hoped 'they die in a car crash'. Just one in a list of things she could never take back. And, in sick irony, that's exactly how he died. It seemed like no matter how hard she tried to make up for her past, it's always too late.

"Sorry dad," she muttered. It was fitting that she felt the rain begin to fall, the cold water spattering against her cheek. It also gave her an excuse to finally leave.

Her car wasn't that far behind her but the water was coming down hard. This wasn't a light rain; there was neither lightning nor wind but it was showering. She had just reached her car door when she spotted a pair of headlights through the drizzle. Another car was quickly approaching. Nova's hand shot to the gun holstered at her waist before relaxing. Coming back to Earth from the Millennium, her fighting instincts were still in her. Every noise and every approaching vehicle still registered as a potential threat. She had to tell herself that she was safe and her hand relaxed again.

"Major Nova!" a voice called out. She hadn't heard this voice in a long time; she didn't even recognize it at first.

"Well, it's Major 'Disaster' Davis," she humorously called out. This was the name he had earned himself among many SG personnel for his habit of only showing up when there was some major crisis. "How'd you find me?"

"It's Lieutenant Colonel now," Paul Davis corrected. "We spoke to your mother; she said that you might be here. Major Nova, you volunteered to be called back to active duty should the need arise?" Nova knew what he meant. The Millennium Expedition was only visiting Earth and would return to NGC 300; the SGC wanted to give every expedition member a chance to be with their families. However, some expedition members, for various reasons, were willing to continue working despite their one week of leave and Nova was one of them.

"What happened?" she asked over the sound of the pouring rain which came down in gallons.

"I rather talk about it back at the SGC," Davis announced. Nova maintained her tired stare at Colonel Davis before giving a sigh. It was back to Stargate Command.

-.-

Nova would be lying if she said she didn't miss the SGC. She watched the two guards patrolling past the tunnel entrance as she drove past the guard booth. Still, she could not help but wonder what was so important. Her question was answered soon enough when she was escorted down to the interrogation room, or at least the observation room that over looked it, where a young blonde woman sat. Nova didn't immediately recognize her but the man who observed the prisoner did.

"Charlotte Mayfield, AKA, Athena, AKA-"

"Former vice president of Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics," Nova said, reciting what she remembered. She looked at the person who had first spoken. Short scruffy hair, rectangular glasses, even a small amount of scruff covering his jaw, she recognized him from all the photos.

"Daniel Jackson?" she asked. She had to confirm. It would be embarrassing if she had mistaken someone else for him. He looked at her as if to see who had called his name. There was no doubt; this was Doctor Daniel Jackson. "I'm Terra Nova. Your reputation precedes you."

"Um…thanks," Daniel stuttered, not sure how to take the compliment. "Wait, Terra Nova? You led the team that found the Furlings; congratulations on that." Nova smiled humbly. Everyone knew SG-1 and the only two members of SG-1 that knew her were O'Neill and Carter because they were her mentors. She was honored that she was building a reputation that could even catch SG-1's eye.

"What's the story with her?" Nova asked, changing the subject. She remembered reading the report on when Athena tried to kidnap Vala Mal Doran, dressing up as Air Force officers and managing to get Vala into the car, but the alien pirate fought back and caused the car to go off the road. Two Trust operatives were killed but Athena went missing, probably because they now knew Goa'uld's identity.

"Well, from what I've been told, Jack found her in his house," Daniel remarked. Nova could not help but chuckle in amusement. O'Neill still didn't lock his door. "She says she has information about the Trust but won't say much more except that she wants to talk to the original four members of SG-1." Even Nova had to raise a suspicious eyebrow at this oddly specific request.

A loud hum caught her and Daniel's attention as the door to the observation room opened.

"Danny boy," General O'Neill called from the doorway. Daniel gave Nova a nod before heading over to O'Neill as General Mercer walked in with another person. She was surprised General Landry wasn't here to observe the interrogation, but he was likely watching via the security cameras and didn't need to be in the observation room.

"Jack, what's going on?" Daniel asked as the door closed again. Nova eavesdropped on the conversation between Daniel and O'Neill before the door shut.

"You tell me, I just got here," Jack said in equal confusion.

"She didn't say why she wanted someone from the Millennium Expedition?"

The door closed before Terra could hear more. Nova felt slightly saddened that her other mentor, the legendary General Jack O'Neill, two L's as he would insist, did not say hello though she understood it might be because he already had a lot on his mind. From what she just heard, Athena not only wanted SG-1 but wanted someone from the Millennium Expedition to hear this too. But why?

"General," Nova greeted Mercer.

"Major Nova, this is Luthor Dovelock of the IOA," Mercer introduced. Nova noticed how uncomfortable Luthor was when Mercer revealed the connection to the IOA. The relation between the IOA and the SGC was not a good one with nearly every SG personnel feeling the IOA was nothing but a bunch of stuck up bureaucrats. Nova was not as harsh on the IOA as most but her perception was still a negative one.

"Major," Luthor said in a friendly tone. "Congratulations on your discovery of the Furlings." Nova nodded graciously. They all quieted down when the door on the inside opened, O'Neill and Daniel Jackson stepping in. Athena was certainly agitated by her wait.

-.-

Athena glared at Jackson and O'Neill as they stepped in. She wore nothing but the blue jumpsuit the SGC provided to make sure she wasn't hiding anything in her original clothing. But, she wasn't angry about being detained, she surrendered to the SGC in the home of the former leader of SG-1. She was angry about the wait.

"I am _so_ sorry," O'Neill said casually, almost mockingly. "You know how the office is nowadays. Memos get buried under all the other paperwork." Athena was not the least bit amused.

"I offered to share knowledge about the Trust with you and you still had me wait," she glowered, her voice deepened by the Goa'uld inside her body.

"Yeah…what we don't get is why," Daniel spoke up before O'Neill could say more. Jackson took the whole situation a lot more seriously and didn't think Jack's snarky attitude would help. "Last time we met, you tried to kidnap a member of this facility." The Goa'uld smirked at this comment. If Vala hadn't gotten into a standoff with Mitchell, Athena would never have been able to crawl away from the car crash.

"This is the reason I have come back," the goddess of strategy said. "As vice president of Farrow-Marshall, I was able to provide the Trust with a fair amount of power in multiple fields. After I was exposed I had to go into hiding, losing a very valuable position." Daniel nodded, taking in what he heard.

"They had others but every position of power counts," he muttered to himself. "I'm guessing it was only a matter of time before they realized you lost your position because of greed." O'Neill had to hold back a laugh.

"So, you dun goofed and they kicked you out on your ass for it," the General chuckled. "You see, what I don't get is what makes you think we would care?"

"Because it is more than that," Athena said darkly. "After the death of Ba'al, leadership of the Trust changed hands. The new leadership was less than happy with what I did and has ordered my execution," Athena said darkly. "I am to be made an example of for the whole organization."

"If you want us to trust you, we need-" Daniel began to say but Jack just had to cut in.

"Wait, I have an idea: how about we let the Trust have you so you'll be dead…and we'll be glad!"

"I can provide you with much needed knowledge to combat the Trust," Athena said, almost begging. "Your previous tactics are no longer going to work, not against Ammit."

"Ammit," Daniel instinctively muttered, his mind quickly going over everything he knew.

"Daniel?" O'Neill asked. This was Doctor Jackson's field of expertise after all and Daniel found himself babbling as much as he could.

"Also known as Devourer of the Dead, Eater of Hearts, Bone Eater, in Ancient Egyptian mythology she was the incarnation of divine retribution, destroying the hearts of anyone who was judged unworthy. Nicknamed 'Devourer of Millions', demons such as Am-heh were often considered her aspects or even just another name for her."

"Ammit is a master ashrak," Athena clarified. "And she has ordered my death. All I ask is protection in exchange for my knowledge of the inner workings of the Trust. From the Atlantis Expedition to the Millennium Expedition, she has plans for all of you and I can help you stop her."

-.-

Nova kept her eyes on Athena, though occasionally glanced at the people beside her. By the time Terra Nova had joined the SGC, most of the major System Lords were already dead. Still, Nova knew about the Goa'uld, their arrogance and their classic villain monologues. This was not what she expected. Terra had kept her eyes locked on Athena's face, taking note of every little facial movement. The Goa'uld occasionally made the arrogant smirk but this seemed to be a result of wounded pride. From what Nova could tell, Athena was more afraid than anything else. She looked at General Mercer, wondering if his symbiote, Am-heh, had anything to say. She was surprised by his facial expression. Mercer's face was tense, his eyes squinted into a glare. His face had only tensed at the mention of Ammit.

-.-

The SGC was already up in arms over Athena's sudden and unexpected surrender. Some saw this as the perfect opportunity to tear the Trust apart, to find their soft point and stab into it. Others were not so eager.

"Has anybody considered that maybe she's lying?" O'Neill exclaimed irritably as he walked around the briefing room.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but it's out of my hands," Landry argued from his seat. "The IOA believes this to be the best chance to take down the Trust." O'Neill put his hand to his head and groaned in irritation. Of course the IOA was going to believe this. Took risks when it wasn't necessary and refused to take them when they were.

"Jack," Daniel spoke up. "This could be our one chance to get rid of the Trust once and for all."

"And if we're going to make a decision we better make it fast," Landry added. "Both the jaffa and the Tok'ra want a piece of her."

"I guess that make sense; she may not have been a System Lords but she did serve as an underlord."

"Well, 'em have her," O'Neill insisted.

"Jack, the IOA's already made their choice," Landry said, standing up. This conversation was drawing to a close anyways. "They want to hear out Athena."

-.-

Under normal circumstances, General Mercer would stare out a window when he needed to take the time to think. But, they were underground so he could only sit at an office desk that he was temporarily given. Nova had decided to follow the General; she had questions for him.

"It's been such a long time," Mercer remarked, leaning back in his chair. "Quite honestly, I was hoping the issue with the Trust would be resolved by the time we returned."

"It's probably going to take a while before the Milky Way is ridded of the Goa'uld," Nova pointed out, pacing back and forth. "The war with the Goa'uld only happened a few years ago; hunting them all down will take time. Who knows, they might even try one last attack before they go out. But, I wanted to ask you a few questions?" Mercer raised a curious eyebrow at this statement as Nova clarified, "Or, more precisely, I wanted to ask Am-heh a few questions."

Mercer's eyes gave a furious glow as control was switched between symbiote and host. Only the highest ranking members of the SGC and the IOA as well as Terra Nova's team, Wolf Pack, was aware of Am-heh, former Goa'uld assassin, trusted by neither the jaffa nor the Tok'ra, seeking the Tau'ri for redemption.

"What is your inquiry?" Am-heh asked in a calm, almost pleasant, voice.

"You know who Ammit is," Nova stated without hesitation. "When Athena mentioned her name you became frustrated. Daniel knows Ammit by mythology. Athena knows her by reputation. But, you seemed to know her personally. Who is she?"

Am-heh leaned forward in his chair, considering his answer. He always knew that he would eventually have to answer this question. At the very least, he was being questioned by a subordinate and not a committee of politicians.

"Ammit…was my partner," Am-heh finally said. "Thousands of years ago, a rogue group of Goa'uld scientists captured infant symbiotes from across the galaxy and forced implantation. At such a young age, most of the symbiotes were not strong enough to survive the process and those who did would have trouble remaining in control of their host's body. This was merely the first step in our training."

Am-heh closed his eyes as his mind went back to that moment thousands of years ago.

_He remembered that moment when he was first given a host. The air felt freezing and the only source of warmth of the exposed neck of the terrified human in front of him. As he drove into the flesh like a pool of warm water, it felt like he was expanding, growing larger and larger it was almost a wonder that his host didn't simply burst open. Then he realized that he was not growing larger rather he had seized control of the body. He could feel every limb as if it was his own. In a way, it was. These were his limbs for this was now his body. He sat up, looking at his own hand. He was once just a worm that slithered across the ground. Now, he had a real body, he had limbs, and with that thought he smiled._

"They referred to us as 'hunters' and 'enforcers of the Goa'uld Empire', we were to be an elite force of ashrak and they kept us together and taught us at all times of the day and night. They taught us political science and economics as well as strategic studies. We learned martial arts, and free running, and my favorite: swordsmanship."

_Only a handful of jaffa stood guard, watching them train. In one ring, several trainees were firing staff weapons at wooden posts. In another ring, a pair of trainees were practicing unarmed combat barefoot, the floor of the ring composed of jagged rocks. Am-heh was more focused on his ring, where he was in the middle of fighting another trainee with a shikra sabre. They were both furiously slashing and stabbing at each other at lightning speed. In the midst of the chaos, the young Am-heh in his younger host stumbled backwards, losing his balance on a random item placed on the ground. His opponent saw the opportunity and immediately moved in. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Am-heh slashed in front of him. Am-heh regained his balance and saw that the opponent had fallen to the ground, hands covering his eyes and screaming in pain. Am-heh stared at his former enemy, actually horrified by what he did, but a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. It was one of the Goa'uld scientists heading the project. He could not help but feel a chill looking into the six-lensed mechanical goggles the scientist wore. _

_"Don't worry," the scientist said with an almost demented smile, impressed by Am-heh. "His only real reason for living was to help you further achieve your goals." _

"Once the training was complete, our services were provided to the System Lords, who paid our handlers handsomely with slaves, jaffa, naquadah, and technology. I was sure that I would emerge as the best of the hunters, I firmly believed it and I would endure training to make it a reality."

"How does Ammit play into all this?" Nova asked.

"Countless ashrak went into training and only a handful survived and both I and Ammit were ranked the top. We became partners for many missions. However, Ra became greedy and launched an attack on our encampment to claim all the ashrak for himself. However, we proved more resilient that he anticipated and the elite ashraks he hoped to claim for himself escaped, loyal to nobody but themselves, bowing down to no god."

"And Ammit?"

Am-heh's face sagged. This was the first time Nova has ever seen Mercer express any serious emotion.

"She turned on me and I was forced to kill her amidst the chaos," he admitted. "Athena is oblivious to my defection so it is possible she is lying. And if Athena is sincere and Ammit somehow survived, then I cannot help but wonder where she has been all this time and what her plans are. I watched Ammit die but we were trained to be able to fake our deaths. Major Nova, I give you this one warning: don't let your guard down. Do not, under any circumstance underestimate an ashrak, especially one as skilled as Ammit. An ashrak has many skills and tools at his disposal and she will use all of them." Am-heh paused, taking in the moment. His eyes glowed as control between the host and the symbiote switched once again.

"Major Nova," Mercer said. "The IOA's given the green light on Operation Typhon, the final strike that is to end the Trust."

"If Homeworld Command's making a move against the Trust, I want in," Nova immediately said.

"I figured you would," Mercer chuckled with a smile. "I can pull some strings in order to make that happen. I will remain behind. There are politicians to deal with. Just remember, we are supposed to return to Millennium before the week's end."

"That gives us one week to end the Trust or, at the very least, deal the crippling blow."

"I will recall you to return to Millennium at the end of the week regardless of whether or not your mission is a success."

"Then we better start preparing."

"The ship is being prepared right now."

Nova gave Mercer a confused stare.

"Ship?" she repeated.

-.-

A quick plane ride to a secret military base out in the Nevada desert and an elevator ride to the bottom and she understood what Mercer meant.

"This is the X-305," a voice said proudly. Nova straightened up. She knew that voice.

"Colonel Carter!" she exclaimed in shock. Nova straightened her back to stand at attention in the presence of her first mentor. Carter only chuckled at this.

"At ease," Carter said quickly as she came down the walkway with General O'Neill. The three of them looked out across the hangar bay, admiring the sight of the giant ship in front of them.

"They actually finished it," Nova remarked, admiring the ship in front of them.

"The 305 is a stealth frigate," Carter explained proudly. "This is the first ship designed using the Asgard core. Armed with Mark VIII and Mark IX nuclear missiles and a single plasma beam weapon as its main cannon."

"Wasn't the 305's also supposed to be able reach Millennium?" Nova asked. O'Neill gave Carter an amused look, remembering that this was what she wanted it to do."

"The intergalactic hyperdrive is still a work in progress. We launched the _Typhon_ to Millennium several months ago but the hyperdrive burned out. Luckily, the ship had only reached the edge of the Milky Way and could be towed back."

"You know, have you tried following the instruction manual the Asgard left for us?" O'Neill asked. Carter gave a smile.

"We're still working out the kinks," she admitted. "Us trying to build their hyperdrives exactly the way they have it would be the equivalent trying to build a nuclear power plant during the Colonial Era. It's going to be a while before we get to their level."

"It's also a bit smaller," O'Neill pointed out in disappointment. "They cut the budget or something."

"The 305 is a stealth frigate," Carter explained with a laugh. "It can convert its shield into a cloak and it has smaller cloaks for all its nukes which we can fire while still cloaked."

"They'll never realize what hit them," Nova chuckled with a smile. It made sense to her. The 304's were now able to go toe to toe with Lucian Alliance ha'taks and Wraith hive ships but if they ever found another powerful enemy, then they would be back to square one; they couldn't completely rely on the Asgard beam weapons. Now, they could even take on far more powerful ships with the 305.

"Pound for pound, it can't compare to our 304 but its stealth systems allow it to fight much stronger ships if it isn't detected. The _Typhon_ is going to serve as the headquarters for this operation." Carter prepared to lead Nova inside but O'Neill had to get his question in.

"Major Nova," he called out quickly, jogging up to her. "Before you head out…I got to know. What do they look like?" Nova gave her other teacher a confused look.

"What do who look like?" she asked.

"You know, the Furlings."

Nova had to look down to hide her laugh. Word had gotten around that she was now the first and only one to see the Furlings and everyone wanted to know what she saw.

"Sorry, General," she laughed. "I was barely conscious. I couldn't tell you if they had fur or if they're completely bald." O'Neill groaned in disappointment. This was the question he's had for a long time: what do the Furlings look like?

"Well ladies…have fun," he remarked.

-.-

The ship was definitely a lot smaller than the 303 or the 304's but Nova noticed that there was a lot more advanced equipment. The bridge didn't even look like the bridges from either ship. It was a chamber, racks of computer monitors lining the walls with technicians at the computers. The different screens showed different parts of the ship as well as scans and readings around it. Carter went to the elevated platform at the center of the room and picked up an earpiece.

"This is Colonel Samantha Carter of the _Typhon_, we request permission to launch."

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Paul Davis of Homeworld Command, you have permission to launch. Good luck."

There was a hiss as the hangar doors hissed open, light hitting the ship for the first time in months. It still bore resemblance to 304's that preceded it but was a lot smaller, what would be its hangar bays fused to its body but now held an array of forward firing missile tubes.

"Engaging cloak," a technician announced. With that, the ship seemed to vanish as it headed into the atmosphere. There was no window but the monitors showed the ship rise up into the atmosphere.

"You ok?" Carter asked when she noticed the expression on Nova's face.

"It's just that this is the first time I'm going on a mission without my team," Nova admitted. "Corin and Chen are back on Millennium. Martin's in Australia."

"I know the feeling," Carter said assumingly, thinking about when she left SG-1. "Set a course for low Earth orbit," Carter ordered. "It's time to get to work."

-.-

Earth may have been safer since the start of the Stargate Program thanks to all the advances in alien technology, but its defenses were not flawless. A cargo ship sat hidden in a forest somewhere on the planet. In the back room, a man sat at a small table, enjoying his meal. The two tail flaps of his crimson duster hung on either end of the chair. He looked past his long golden hair with a smile as he spoke to the woman beside him. She straightened her grey cassock, watching the man eat.

"We've got confirmation," she said. "The Typhon flies. The SGC's making their move to end the Trust. We have our audience's undivided attention."

"Duat, Ammit, once I start my dance, I dance to the bitter end," the eating man said, glancing at the man on the other side of the chair, a tall, slim, and wearing a six-lensed mechanical goggle and a long white lab coat.

"Enjoy it to the fullest, Director," the man in the lab coat said. "They're also aware of Ammit's involvement with the Trust. I think they might be putting it together." The Director stopped eating for a moment when he heard this.

"Put together?" he snorted in amusement at the thought. "Nonsense. They don't know anything about anything. We're in the midst of the introduction; they haven't even reached the rising action yet."

"You seem to be enjoying all this."

"Enjoying is a complete understatement. I'm ecstatic; absolutely giddy with excitement. We played the System Lords into fighting each other for thousands of years; imagine the violence that awaits us with the Tau'ri."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I apologize for the long delay. I've been really busy lately. I hope my recent distractions haven't affected my writing ability; I'll try to step it up in the future. Anyways, please tell me what you think, review, and enjoy._

-.-

With the Tau'ri-Lucian Alliance War, at any one moment, several BC-304's would be in orbit around Earth. Now, the X-305 Typhon could join them.

"Entering geosynchronous orbit," one of the technicians announced. Colonel Carter stared the dozens of computer screens that lined the walls of the bridge from atop the elevated platform at the center. Homeworld Command had already established communications, both Colonel Davis and General O'Neill were onscreen. Terra Nova was at the base of the platform, watching as her former mentor discussed the current situation with her superiors.

It felt strange to be back, even if it was on a ship. She was so used to being around Alliance technology and seeing the architecture. It also felt weird being with an all-American crew again. The Millennium Expedition was composed of the best from around the entire world, a testament that people could unite. There were so many different races that she couldn't think of a single Millennium team that had two people from the same country. Hell, if you held a random conversation in the hallway, you had to pray the person you're talking to has an accent you could understand. The Typhon was built in America so the Americans got first dibs. She would definitely have to get used to this again.

"Alright," Carter said. "We're going to go down and see what Athena can give us on the Trust."

"You know, I'm surprised the IOA hasn't tried to screw around with our operation," O'Neill remarked. Personally, he was irritated how the IOA was always trying to meddle in the affairs of the SGC. The IOA agent assigned to help defeat the Ori nearly had his plan to use the replicators completely backfired. He thought the IOA would do the same, assign another agent with another stupid plan. He was actually pleasantly surprised that they weren't.

"Actually, the IOA say they're going to conduct their own investigation," Davis clarified.

"Well, here's a question for you. If they could do this by themselves, why did they wait 'till now?"

"I'm afraid I don't know for sure. They just want you to be aware that they will be conducting their own investigations."

"I'll keep that in mind," Carter said with a nod. This would've been the end of the conversation but Terra Nova suddenly realized something.

"Colonel Davis," she spoke up. "Where is General Mercer?" If they were in the same room, O'Neill and Davis would have exchanged glances when they heard this.

"We…don't know," O'Neill replied.

"General Mercer was supposed to be involved with this operation."

"He is one of the higher ranking military officials involved with the stargate," Carter added, suddenly understanding why it was so strange for him not to be involved.

"The IOA called him away," Davis explained. "They never said why; only that they needed Mercer and Am-heh for something."

"I guess we're on our own then," Carter said to Nova. They were both hoping that Am-heh could advise them.

"I think it's time we have a talk with our prisoner," Terra suggested. Cater couldn't agree more. As Nova followed her former mentor, she could not help but hear a little bit of chit chat among the crew that watched them walk out of the room.

"You think we're going to do it; get rid of the Goa'uld I mean?"

"We got this in the bag. That's Colonel Carter up there; one of the original members of SG-1. We're going to kick some slimy snake-ass."

-.-

The Typhon's brig should be inescapable but they still had one guard in front of Athena's cell just in case.

"Colonel," he greeted as Carter and Nova walked up. "It's an honor to have you in command, ma'am." Carter gave a modest laugh.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Peterson," she said.

"I also heard your former protégé will be joining us. I'm assuming Major Hailey will be coming along for the ride."

"Actually," Carter said, stepping aside. "This is Major Terra Nova."

Nova couldn't help but notice the guard's, Peterson, face sag in disappointment. In a way, she couldn't blame him. Samantha Carter trained Terra Nova because she was assigned to the Colonel. But, Jennifer Hailey was handpicked by Carter.

"Is that ok?" Carter asked Peterson, noticing his expression. Nova watched as his face suddenly became red with embarrassment as he realized how obvious his expression was.

"It's alright," Nova interrupted. "We're just here to talk to the prisoner."

-.-

Athena was the SGC's only source of information on the Trust and, since the crew of the Typhon were going after the group, Athena was coming with them. She sat in the brig, still fuming, refusing to relinquish her pride. She could be trying to think of a way to escape but she knew it would be no use. The solid metal room was more than enough to hold her and the cuffs held her hand too close together for them to be of any use. A Goa'uld may have enhanced strength but it wasn't enough to break these cuffs.

She looked up when she heard the clank of the door unlocking. The guard at the entrance let Colonel Carter and Major Nova into the cell.

"This is the protection you promised me?" Athena scoffed.

"We promised you protection in exchange for you helping us to take down the Trust," Carter clarified. "This is the only way for you to help us."

"By taking me to them?" Athena snapped.

"You're on a stealth ship in orbit around the planet," Nova pointed out. "This place is safer than anywhere on Earth."

"So you can start helping us, or we can drop you back off on Earth," Carter added. Athena glowered at her position. There were no powerful System Lords she could leech off of, no armies of jaffa at her disposal anymore. She was a prisoner. But, she wanted to live.

"Defeating the Trust will take more than a simple attack," she sneered. "Despite numerous setbacks, including the death of Ba'al, they still exist."

"So give us the locations of all the Trust cells you know of," Carter suggested. She knew if they simply attacked the Trust, the Goa'uld-infested organization would find a way to recover. The only way was to attack every branch at once.

"The cells are compartmentalized for reasons such as this," the Goa'uld snorted as if she was trying to insult the humans for not realizing this. "This way, even if one Trust cell were compromised, the rest would be fine."

"The Trust uses a subversive cell system," Nova pointed out. "One group coordinates and directs the other cells."

"That's true, and when we infiltrated the Trust, they were among the first we took host. But, all highest ranking members are usually kept apart to avoid a having all the leaders taken out at once. Even if one official is eliminated, the others will live and more will take its place."

"Don't tell me the 'information' you promised is simply how we can't win," Carter groaned in annoyance. Athena did not take too kindly to this remark, glaring at the Colonel.

"There is one thing that may be of your concern."

"We're listening," Nova said bluntly.

"Thanks to the actions of the Tau'ri, the once great Goa'uld Empire is coming to an end. We've created a subspace transmitter to contact all surviving Goa'uld to inform them of the new plan."

"Which is?" Carter asked. Athena could not help but smile. It seemed like a brilliant plan at the time.

"Come to Earth."

"Which would give you a steady supply of new symbiotes to implant," Nova said to herself. The Goa'uld had lost their massive empires. They no longer had crowds of human slaves or legions of jaffa to do their bidding. They were on the run, hunted by the Tok'ra, jaffa, and the Tau'ri. This was their last ditch effort to exact revenge and maybe reclaim power: infiltrate human society. "This brings up back to one problem: how do we know this isn't a trick?"

"Last time a Goa'uld offered their assistance, it was a trap," Carter added.

Athena sighed at this question before asking, "Is there really anything I can say to prove to you it's not?"

-.-

While Carter and Nova were busy dealing with the Trust head-on, the IOA had a different idea on how to do things. And so did Am-heh. He watched the mansion from a distance. It was the dead of night so he was perfectly concealed behind the trees outside the wall, out of sight of the guards and out of the field of view of the cameras.

Normally, he would've tried a different approach to sneaking in. Had he enough time, he could've disguised himself as one of the guards, or created an accident that would allow him to pose as a maintenance worker. But, the IOA wanted things done quickly. He had hours, not weeks. He had to do things the old fashioned way.

If this had been a jaffa camp, then it would've been easier; all he would need is a chainmail skirt and a head tattoo and he could walk right in. But, this was a small Tau'ri security detail. They all knew each other's faces; no way he could pose as one of the guards without arousing suspicion. He had to sneak in, out of sight of the cameras and the guards. This is what he trained for. He reached down and pressed a button on his wrist, his cloaking device making him disappear.

The cameras, the guards, they didn't matter. With the cloak, he leapt over the fence and walked past them all. There was only one issue that faced him: the guard in front of the back door. Even cloaked, people were going to wonder why a door opened and closed by itself and there was no way Am-heh could sneak in without that guard noticing. Not only would he see the door open, he would probably feel the invisible assassin slip past. However, Am-heh had the perfect tool for a situation such as this and the cover of darkness will work to his advantage.

"What the?!" the guard gasped when a black figure suddenly seemed to just materialize right beside him. This old man in a black suit of armor standing beside him, a mechanical set of goggles covering the figure's eyes so only his mouth and bushy mustache could be seen. Before the guard could react, Am-heh lifted his left hand, revealing a golden triangular ring on his middle finger. The hara'kesh: the ashraks' signature weapon. The guard was supposed to arrest intruders like Am-heh, but he was immediately frozen by the light coming from the alien ring. His shoulders sagged, his body relaxing.

"Sorry, sir," he murmured, waddling back to his position. Am-heh opened the door, the dazed guard doing nothing to stop it. It would've been easier to simply kill the guard, but then the other might notice a missing man. Right before Am-heh activated his cloak again, he looked at the camera mounted on a tree, looking at the door. With his pitch black armor, the camera was too far away to clearly see Am-heh in the dark. From the perspective of the camera, it saw nothing but shadows. And just like that, not a single man aware of what was happening, Am-heh just walked right in.

-.-

When serving under the System Lords, Ashraks would be called upon to complete any number of tasks: assassination, sabotage, espionage, and, above all, infiltration. Most believe that, with a cloaking device, infiltration is incredibly easy. This may be true if the ultimate goal was to take a leisurely stroll in the enemy base. However, there were things a cloak could not accomplish.

Am-heh's next target was the security office. They watched every camera and if anything went down, the security office would be the first to know and alert the rest of the guards not to mention coordinate them to capture the intruder. But, taking out the security office was no easy task. Two guards stood in front of the door and any attempt to take out one will cause enough commotion that the people inside the security office could hear it. The alarm would be raised and his mission would fail. And decloaking was far more risky due to the brightly lit hallways as opposed to the darkness outside. But, ashrak have more than just a fancy ring and a cloak.

He was around the corner to the door; even if he wasn't cloaked, he would've been hidden from sight. As he casually walked into the hall, still cloaked, he let a silver pearl-like orb slip from his finger, out of the cloaking field, and onto the floor. Anyone familiar with Goa'uld technology would instantly recognize the communication device but this was much smaller and Am-heh didn't intend on using this thing to talk.

The two guards in front of the door raised their weapons in shock when they heard it, looking around, trying to find out where the noise was coming from.

"Is that…elevator music?" one of them wondered out loud in confusion. They both stared down the hall where the music was coming from but couldn't see what was making it. Considering there shouldn't be elevator music playing, they knew something was wrong. But, raising the alarm over hearing music seemed silly. Still, they had to investigate. One guard cautiously proceeded in the direction of the eerily light-hearted melody, the other guard staying at his post. On the HUD displayed by his mechanical goggles, Am-heh could see the man approaching the orb. They were now separated by several meters and looking in the same direction. Now was the time to strike.

He chose to decloak right behind the guard at the door. In the blink of an eye, one hand clasped around the guard's mouth while the other brought the hara'kesh to the guard's forehead. Almost instantly, the mind fog filled his brain. Am-heh moved quickly, doing the same with the second guard, pressing the hara'kesh against his forehead, letting the mind fog take hold. With the two guard taken care of, the only thing left the security office. He pounded on the door.

"Come in," a voice inside said. Am-heh simply replied by pounding on the door again. The annoyed technician inside soon opened the door, surprised to see the figure standing before him. All this time, Am-heh had used his hara'kesh to simply subdue his opponents to avoid arousing suspicion from the guards and having the alarm raised. But the security office was out of sight of everyone. Nobody would notice. In a swift motion, Am-heh's hands flew to the shikra sabre sheathed at his waist and whipped out the weapon so that its blade cleaved right through the technicians throat. A slit throat still take minutes to die from but Am-heh had severed all the carotid arteries, the victim passing out from loss of blood to the brain within seconds. There was only one other technician in the room, who lunged to pull the alarm. He may have been fast but Am-heh, with his Goa'uld enhanced speed, was faster. The alien assassin dashed forward and grabbed the man by the collar, yanking him back. His hands snaked around his prey's throat into a firm blood choke. Within moments, the technician fell unconscious as the blood to his brain was reduced to a trickle. But Am-heh held it there. After a few more moments, he finally released the body to the ground.

"We're getting too old for this crap," Mercer said to himself before returning control of the body to Am-heh.

All alone now, Am-heh closed the door and sheathed his sword once more. Now he had the room to himself. Not a single person in the mansion knew what was happening. He spotted his target on the monitors in front of him: three men in the living room. This was why he had been so cautious. If the alert was raised then these three men would vanish into a hidden panic room or disappear through a hidden exit. This was the first time the IOA Field Operations Division learned of a meeting between three major Trust leaders and they weren't going to let the opportunity slip between their fingers.

"Checkmate," Am-heh muttered. He only learned that phrase after taking Mercer as host and he had to appreciate how fitting it was in this situation.

-.-

The mansion living room was on the third floor, past several dozen security guards and an array of security cameras. The chandelier above the heads of the three men provided the only light in the room as they discussed their affairs in front of the fish tank. Oddly enough, the tank had on fish, only a thick mass of seaweed.

"Our sales have been a lot higher than expected," one man said happily.

"You've been doing pretty well," another remarked. "After the disappearance of Alex Jameson and Charlotte Mayfield, you've done a pretty good job running Farrow-Marshall."

"Do we have to talk business now?" the third man asked impatiently.

"There's nothing else I would rather talk about," a voice hissed from the darkness. The three men bolted to their feet, trying to figure out where the voice came from. Am-heh deactivated his cloak as he stepped out of the shadowy corner of the room, making it look like he was materializing from the darkness itself. The large lens of his goggle covering his right eye seemed to spin, the three smaller lenses on his left eye moving as if to focus on the three men.

"Who the hell are you?!" one of the man cried out. They were in a massive building surrounded by walls, patrolled by guards, watched by cameras and this man got past all of them.

"Consider me the evening's entertainment," Mercer said in his usual voice, pulling a pair of TER's from holsters at his waist. "May I have a volunteer from the audience?" The three men gaped at the guns in his hands as the assassin walked forward.

"Please," one of the men pleaded, holding his hand out. "We can pay you whatever you want."

"You can drop the act," Mercer stated in a bored tone, not even raising his weapon. "Even from here I can feel the presence in all of you." Those words were all Mercer needed to say. The terrified expressions on the three men changed into ones or rage. Their flashed, revealing their true identities.

Mercer reached up and slid his goggle to the top of his head. Mercer's eyes glowed as Am-heh took control of the body.

"I will not be threatened by the likes of you Tok'ra!" one of the Goa'uld spat. "You've even sunk so low that you now serve the Tau'ri." Am-heh had little reaction to this, only calmly raising the TER's to their foreheads.

"I am many things, but I am no Tok'ra and I serve no one but myself. Every decision I make, every life I take, I do it on my own interest." Am-heh proceeded to take a radio from his armor, click it on and say: "Targets in custody."

"Copy that," a voice responded. Am-heh relaxed, keeping his TER's trained on the three Goa'uld. It wasn't long before all four of them could hear shouting outside as government agents proceeded to storm the premises.

"The Tau'ri ordered you to take us alive," one of the Goa'uld chuckled.

"I have…but you are most welcome to try and attack me." The three Goa'uld were shocked at the clear attempt to provoke them. "And in the meantime," Am-heh said, taking out a Goa'uld communication orb and holding it forward. "My employers have some questions."

-.-

The guards kept their guns trained on Athena as she sat down at a computer on the bridge. As a Goa'uld, she was not to be trusted and these men would not hesitate to open fire if she tried anything. Nova and Carter watched as the Goa'uld went to work, putting in the coordinates of several Trust safe houses as well as the location of the transmitter.

"These machines are pitiful," Athena muttered. "It's miraculous that you can even navigate space using this pathetic excuse for a ship." The two ladies behind her chose not to respond as the Goa'uld entered the last coordinate and leaned back to indicate she was finished.

"I've held up my end of the bargain," Athena reminded them. Carter stared at her for a moment, almost surprised Athena didn't try to install a virus.

"Take her back to the brig," Carter ordered. Athena got up and walked to the door, the two guards right behind her, but she paused right before walking out.

"And what's to become of me?" she asked. "Hand me to the Tok'ra for extraction?"

Nova looked at her mentor curiously. Technically, they should have simply extracted Athena then put Charlotte Mayfield on trial for working with the Trust. But they had a deal. Technically they could break it but that idea wouldn't sit well with some people. Carter nodded at the guard and he escorted Athena out of the room.

Carter looked up at the array of screen around the room. A number of government officials and military leaders had watched what had happened, still surprised that Athena was so willing to help.

"Did we really have to promise to protect that woman?" O'Neill asked irritably.

"It was the only way to get good information on the Trust," Carter pointed out. "I'm sending you the coordinates she gave us." Through the screens, Nova could see the technicians at Homeworld Command processing the data.

"We got it," Colonel Davis said. "The coordinates are a group of abandoned factories in southern Michigan. From the looks of it, there's only a highway nearby."

"Well, here's something," O'Neill suddenly added. "Just got some new information from the IOA. According to them, there's a good chance Ammit will be there as well."

Carter looked at O'Neill in surprise. Even Nova could not help but feel a tingle of excitement. Not only were they going to destroy the transmitter but they could capture the new leader of the Trust as well.

"How did they come by this information?" Carter asked.

"They won't say; only that Ammit might also be taking orders from someone else. Some guy they call 'The Director'."

Nova felt a chill go down her spine when she heard this. The Director. The only time she's ever heard that name was back on Millennium, the mysterious man on Earth that founded the extremist group, the Stargate Council. The man that showed supposed proof that the SGC abused its ownership of the stargate and was corrupt to the core. Could it be a different man working under the same title? It was too much of a coincidence. How does the Director have ties to the Goa'uld and the Trust?

"We'll keep an eye for them both," Carter said assuringly. Nova was surprised by the Colonel's calmness, as if she didn't know about the Director. It was possible the people in charge of the SGC chose to keep knowledge of the Director a secret so they wouldn't accidentally alert any moles in their security, but it still seemed strange for, of all people, Samantha Carter to not know. And Terra could not help but wonder how the IOA came by this information in the first place.

One by one, all the screens on the bridge went dark as Carter ordered the technicians to cloak the ship and take it into the atmosphere. Nova slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small picture, wrinkled and torn from age. Every soldier knew that any fight they enter could be their last. They each had different ways calming down and telling themselves to still give it all they got. For Terra, it was an image of her sixth birthday, a happy time with her family. She shoved the picture back into her pocket. She couldn't change the past but she could make a difference in the future. The Trust will end today; this she swore.

-.-

The Typhon floated in Earth's lower atmosphere, close at hand for when they needed it. With it cloaked, no one could find it even if they knew it was there. Though, that did not make Athena feel any better.

"How is this protection?!" she snarled at the camera in her cell. "You have brought me right to them."

"The Typhon is a stealth frigate," came Carter's voice through the intercom. "We'll be using troop transports to reach the surface."

"They don't know we're here," Nova's voice added. "The only way they could is if this is actually a trap. And if it is, you'll burn with the rest of us."

Athena glared at the camera in annoyance. Part of Nova could not help but wonder if Athena was leading them into a trap. The other half believed Athena. She was clearly terrified. Who wouldn't be if they found out they were being hunted by an assassin that earned the title 'Eater of Hearts'. Or she could be afraid because her hopes to lead them into a trap is going to get her killed too.

-.-

It was time to launch. All available men gathered on bridge, a holographic map of the building shown above the platform in the center of the room. Nova stood amongst the crowd of soldiers. The building meant urban combat and many of them carried either a USAS-12 shotgun or M4 carbine. They all still had the familiar black uniform and tactical vest. Several troops also wore a sturdy helmet and goggles to protect their eyes from the carnage of a gunfight. Nova kept a gentle grip on her weapon as Carter took center stage to explain the plan. Carter's been off the battlefield for a while so seeing her back in gear was almost new to Terra.

"Alright, this is a layout of the facility," the Colonel explained. "We definitely have the right place; the area's been shielded from our sensors and transporters. We're going to have to beam a few yards away from the factory and proceed on foot. Alpha squad will go through the front entrance and clear out the offices on the top floor. Bravo will take the west entrance and clear out the main building. Charlie will take the rear and clear the storage facilities. Based on Athena's description, the transmitter is about the size of a small car so it should be obvious. We've been requested to try to take any Trust operatives we find into custody but we are permitted to engage if fired upon. The highway to the south's been cleared so don't hesitate."

"Colonel Carter," Nova called out. "What about the rest of us." They had broken up into six teams beforehand but Carter had only mentioned three.

"Teams Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot will remain aboard the Typhon until I give the order," Carter explained. "At which time, Delta will assist Alpha squad, Echo will assist Beta, and Foxtrot will be with Charlie." Nova could feel Sam's eyes look directly at her, to personally address her question. "As much as we want to believe Athena is being honest about this, we have to consider the possibility it's a trap. If it is, we have three extra teams on standby to react to this."

Nova nodded. She wasn't sure if she agreed or not with this decision but Carter was more experienced and her commanding officer.

"We're ready," Carter said through her earpiece. In a brilliant flash of light, Carter and half the soldier sin the room vanished as they were transported down. Nova looked up at the map of the factory. It didn't feel right to be up here while her teacher was down there fighting. But there was nothing she could do. Terra had to wait and pray everything goes well.

Through their earpieces they could hear everything going down.

"Alpha team is in position," Carter said through the radio.

"Bravo team, in position."

"Charlie, in position."

"On my mark," Carter ordered. "Three, two one, mark."

Nova could feel the adrenaline shoot into his veins. The three teams charged into the facility from three different entry points. She could hear the radio chatter as they proceeded to clear the facility room by room. Nova's grip on her gun tightened in frustration. There was no way the Trust would simply surrender, especially if they were Goa'uld-infested. Carter and her teams did the dying while Nova and her teams did the waiting.

"Colonel Carter."

Nova looked around in surprise. The voice calling for Carter did not come over the earpiece. All the screens on the bridge were off but one.

"General Mercer," Nova called out, rushing over to the monitor. "What are you wearing?" Terra knew that it wasn't a polite or formal statement but Mercer still war the black armor and goggles he had earlier.

"Where is Colonel Carter?" Mercer demanded to know.

"She's on the ground." Terra Nova didn't like the tone of Mercer's voice. The old man was usually calm and pleasant. And whatever could scare him, scared her. "General, what's going on?"

"The information delivered was incomplete," he explained. "There is a strong possibility that both Ammit and the Director are in that facility."

"We got this intel," Nova said hurriedly. She could tell that Mercer knew something bad and she didn't want to waste any time lingering on what they already knew.

"Major Nova, hundreds of thousands of years ago, the scientists handled our training but they answered to one man. He was called many things in Goa'uld dialect but in your language he would be referred to as the Director. And if this is the same one, I can assure you that the Shadow's Hand will be with him."

"Shadow's Hand?" Nova repeated.

"The Shadow's Hand, Tuat Ashrak, assassins of the underworld, my former colleagues."

Nova's eyes widened in horror. These were the ashraks Am-heh had described to her before. Goa'uld symbiotes captured at birth and molded to be nothing less than perfect killers. She had to contact Colonel Carter.

-.-

For a supposedly abandoned factory, the place was unusually pristine. Though, it was possible the Trust made some repairs so they could use it was one of their facilities. They cleared the entire factory one room at a time. For Carter this was surprisingly uneventful. The place was in chaos earlier as the Trust were taken down one room at a time. Carter could hear the roaring sound of gunfire as SGC forces tried to eliminate the Trust operatives. She wanted to turn and help them but she had her own job to do. All she could do was trust they could take care of it. There was only one office left unchecked anyways.

"Stack up on the door," she ordered the seven other men with her. She took the front, pressing against the door frame while her men gathered on either side. It was all about teamwork here. Carter gave a nod, indicating she was ready. The man behind her gave her shoulder a squeeze, indicating everyone on her side of the door was ready. The lead man across from her gave Carter a nod, telling that everyone on that side was also ready. She moved away from the door frame, turned the nob and flung the door open. She and the other men cleared the room, making sure there were no enemies ready to shoot at them. To their surprise, three people were already in the room.

"Stop right there!" Carter ordered. The three people weren't moving but she had to at the very least give the verbal command so there was no confusion. These three didn't look like Trust operatives at all. The woman on the left wore a gray cassock along with a stern but blank expression. The man on the right wore a white lab coat. With his six-lensed goggles, his smile looked almost demented. Then there was the man in the center, leaning back in his office chair behind an empty desk. His crimson red duster looked as if it had been soaked in a pool of blood. Carter couldn't see his face; the man wore a red hood along with a ceramic white Phantom of the Opera mask.

"Colonel Samantha Carter!" he said warmly. "Welcome. I'm so sorry for the mess, you arrived here sooner than I expected. Quite a fast response by the way; at least by today's standard."

"Who are you?" Carter asked suspiciously, her P90 trained on the man. She and her squad all had their weapons raised as these three, not sure what to make of this. The masked man laughed heartily at this.

"Just a business man," he said with a friendly tone, standing up. Everyone kept their guns aimed at him as he walked around the desk. "I'm a big fan of your work. When I heard that you were heading Operation Typhon, I just had to meet you. And I can see that age has done nothing to your beauty."

"I'm flattered," Carter scoffed. She could feel the presence of a Goa'uld coming from all three of them. Last time a Goa'uld complimented her it was to say she would make a good host. The Goa'uld would explain the flamboyant clothes, they always were vain about their appearance, but why were they still wearing them? Other Goa'uld switched to Earth clothing to blend in. These three didn't. "I don't know who you are but we're taking you into custody." Carter gave a nod and two men walked forward to make sure these three surrendered. Once they got close, they suddenly stumbled backwards in shock as a shimmering blue field of energy formed in front of them.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry about that," the man said apologetically. "I forgot to mention the force field. Unfortunately the actors do not leave the stage to talk to the audience."

"Audience?" Carter repeated. The Director smiled behind his mask. The stage was set and the curtain rises.

Carter whipped around at the sound of one of her men screaming, his body toppling over as a shadow whipped by and vanished.

"The hell was that?!" one of her men cried out in fright.

"Stay focused!" Carter ordered. She turned to face the three Goa'uld but was shocked to see the shadow appear out of thin air, lunge forward, slice through one of her men, and vanish again.

"Screw this, I'm out of here!" another man yelled in horror, bolting down the hallway. Carter couldn't blame him for being terrified but she knew exactly what was going to happen if he ran.

"Wait!" she called out but it was too late. The shadowy figured appeared again, pitch black armor covering every inch of its body, a black mask covering his head, and a mechanical pair of goggles so it can see. In its right hand was a long blade but she didn't immediately recognize what was in its left hand. Finally she realized it was a TER, though it looked different from the ones she's seen before, sleeker, slimmer. A crimson bolt of energy flew from the weapon and into the back of the fleeing man.

Carter knew what she was looking at: an Ashrak, a Goa'uld hunter that that specialized in killing. And they were its prey.

-.-

Back on the Typhon, Nova finally got the order she was waiting for.

"This is Colonel Carter; Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, move in!"

"Alright gentlemen!" she announced, cocking her gun. "Lock'n load, here we go." A nod was given, a button was pushed, and the rest of the squad vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

The moment Nova was beamed down, the light fading out and the world fading in, she could immediately hear gunfire. The entire factory was in chaos. There were way more Trust agents than there should've been and the SGC forces were trying desperately to hold their own.

"Move in!" she ordered her squad, rushing toward the factory. Reinforcements had arrived but they still had to get to the location in time. She and her team burst through the door, ducking as bullets flew overhead, rushing for the nearest cover. Trust agents were everywhere, firing from behind random crates and down from walkways.

"Hold your position and cover Bravo," Nova ordered. Technically Delta squad should help Alpha but Bravo was facing a much worse situation and Delta had Carter with them. She rushed for the offices. It was time to put what she was taught to the test.

-.-

Nova almost felt bad leaving her men behind but she had faith they could handle things. They either had to finish the mission or get out immediately.

Even as she approached the end of the hallway Nova could tell something was wrong. The first thing she noticed was blood, lots of blood. As she neared the open office she saw the corpses of every man in Alpha squad. Colonel Carter was on one knee, her clothes soaked in sweat, her hand holding a wound in her left arm.

"Colonel Carter!" Nova called out, rushing to her former mentor's side, but then froze in her tracks as the sight of the three people.

"Nova, look out!" Carter suddenly yelled. In the corner of her eye, Nova could see something flying at her. Instincts kicked in and Terra threw herself to the ground as a razor sharp blade flew over her head. The ashrak was distracted. Carter took the opportunity to quickly reload her P90 and begin spraying in its direction just as it vanished once again.

-.-

"And a new character takes the stage!" the masked man said eagerly as Nova and Carter both went to face the Goa'uld assassin.

"Director, I think it is time we take our leave," the man in the lab coat suggested. He stared at the Director, eager to do whatever the masked man wanted.

"Not just yet, Duat," the Director insisted. "This is our final act, this is to be our climax. Let's make it one for all to remember."

"If we need to, I can kill them both," Ammit offered, maintaining her stern look.

"That won't be necessary," the Director said, pacing back and forth. "Just lean back and enjoy the show."

-.-

Nova felt herself hurled to the ground again. She immediately rolled to the side as the blade came down like a guillotine, barely missing her. This wasn't working. She had to change tactics. She and Sam were both tired and soon they're going to make a mistake and this thing will take advantage of it. She had to think of something fast. That's when it hit her.

"Idiot," she muttered, curing herself for not thinking of this earlier. The ashrak had appeared again and lunged Carter, who managed to block the blow of its sword with her P90. It could've easily ended it with a few shots of its TER or only attack when it was cloaked, but it didn't want that. It wanted to savor the moment, to watch their terror, to make it last.

Nova pulled out her two berretta pistols, aimed at the ceiling above Carter and the ashrak and fired. The Director watched in surprise as the bullets smashed the concrete, sprinkling dust on the two below it. The ashrak took off, cloaking again. But this time, Nova could see it and so could Carter. The dust sprinkled down, completely filling the air. Through the cloud, Nova could a perfect silhouette, an area where there was absolutely no dust cloud because the space was already occupied by a cloaked figure. It wasn't much but it was enough to give away where it was and she could see it charging at her.

There wasn't enough time to reload her guns. Nova drew out her dagger, ready to fight. But Carter wasn't out of ammo and she aimed her P90 at the dusty figure and fired. The ashrak gave an inhuman roar as it toppled to the floor, the bullets ripping into its spine. It desperately tried to crawl forwards but another burst of bullets from Carter and it went limp.

"Quick thinking," the Colonel remarked, looking at the holes in the ceiling above her.

"I learned from the best," Nova told her teacher, taking the time to reload both her pistols.

The Director smiled, admiring their accomplishments. It looked like they were doomed but, once again, Carter has defied the odds.

"Well done," he chuckled, applauding the two. "You know, I don't think we've met." Nova glared at the masked man.

"Major Terra Anabelle Nova," she said darkly. "And you're the Director."

"Oh, so you've heard of me?"

"Wish I haven't" Nova scoffed. "The only Director I know was the founder of Stargate Council. They were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people." Normally Nova would analyze a person's expression to see if he is telling the truth or not but the man in front of her wore a mask, making it impossible. But she had to know: was this the Director that founded the group responsible for the deaths of her friends? She was stunned by the man's answer. He didn't even try to hide it.

"You make it sound so horrible," he said dismissively. "History has simply repeated itself. It is simply the inevitable cycle of men committing atrocities in their mission to end all atrocities. All that can be done is to simply sit back and watch the cycle of ironic bloodshed."

"Just like every other Goa'uld," Terra glowered. "You just want to watch the world burn." The Director wasn't even offended by this statement. He laughed as if the notion was funny.

"You got me all wrong," he said. "I'll admit the crackling flames are beautiful, but I'm simply a business man with a love for the theatrics. My entire life of several thousand years has been dedicated to this."

"Business?" Nova repeated. Carter put a hand on the Major's shoulder.

"C'mon, we have to get the rest of the men out of here," she insisted, but Nova wasn't leaving just yet. Terra was there when all the bombs on Millennium detonated. She had shielded Corin from the blast with her own body. She has seen the charred corpses of dozens of expedition members, many of whom were her friends. She knew that this trip back to Earth, hundreds of families hoping to see their loved ones will learn of their fate. At the very least, she wanted to know why it happened.

"You say I want to see your world burn," the Director said. "I'm just the owner of the shop selling the matches and gasoline. I'm only here because the Trust decided they wanted to buy my products. It is you, the humans of this world, are the ones setting the flames and cheering gleefully as they encompass your planet."

"That makes no sense!" Nova spat.

"No? Think of the Stargate Council. The Trust wanted to buy my product, so I gave them Ammit. She used whatever political influence and technology they had to engineer the group you call the Stargate Council. The Trust simply saw it as a way to strike at the SGC. It would, at best, bring about your downfall or, at least, serve as a distraction as they continue working. For me, it was simply a continuation of my business. They who sought justice committed injustice."

"Because you tricked them."

"This would've happened eventually with or without my help. Whether it'd be the jaffa, or the Tau'ri, we are all part of the same cycle. I've been at in this business for thousands of years. The jaffa sought enlightenment and righteousness, and they searched for these things by committing massacres in the name of their great gods. I simply gave them the opportunity to continue seeking it. With my elite ashrak, the Shadow's Hand, I directed the System Lords to continuously fight each other, never allowing one to completely overtake the others. The show put on by the System Lords was most enjoyable. But, alas, every show must draw to its end. Fortunately, I have the Tau'ri to help me continue. This planet, these people who I heard even the Asgard trusted to call the Fifth Race, will help continue the cycle.

Blood begets blood. Hate begets hate. Atrocity begets atrocity. The Trust, the SGC, the, the Stargate Council; your great planet is the battleground for a war of a thousand clans, clans who view themselves as enlightened and righteous. They cast flames unto their enemies then wonder why the planet is ablaze. No matter how long, not matter how advanced, the cycle continues."

"Nova," Carter insisted urgently. She wanted to know the truth too but they couldn't continue wasting time. With a sigh, Terra Nova finally turned and ran. Every second they left their men in battle was another one dead.

"This is Colonel Carter, all units, fall back. I repeat, fall back outside the facility. Typhon, do you read?"

"We read you, Colonel."

"Prepare for immediate extraction."

-.-

"Is that it?" Duat could not help but ask as he watched the two women retreat. He was actually hoping for more a fight from a former member of SG-1 and her former student.

"They're not even close to finished yet," the Director said. "The Tau'ri are such a fascinating people. No better place for our final act."

"So how shall we proceed?" Duat asked eagerly, impatient to see what would happen next.

"Well, the chaos has yet to reach its crescendo. Who cares how many Trust operatives, human or Goa'uld, the SGC eliminates. It's like sprinkling droplets of water over a raging fire." The Director sank back down in his chair, leaning back thoughtfully. "I know how to liven things up!"

-.-

Nova could see Carter's frustrated expression when they beamed back aboard the Typhon. The injured were immediately wheeled away to the infirmary while Carter immediately headed for the bridge.

"Colonel Carter, what now?" Nova asked, hurrying after her.

"We have to act fast," Carter explained, not stopping. "Even if we didn't find the transmitter, that doesn't mean it's not down there. I'm requesting permission form Homeworld Command to open fire on the factory."

"And Athena?" Nova asked.

"The Trust knew we were coming. She set us up."

"But to what end? They didn't do anything down there but monologue," Nova pointed out. Usually, there was a point to a trap. Sure, they took the lives of over a dozen of their men but strategically nothing was accomplished.

As the two walked onto the bridge, everyone looked over in anticipation.

"Get me a comm to Homeworld Command," Carter ordered, swiftly strolling to the elevated platform at the center of the room.

"Colonel!" one of the computer technicians suddenly yelled in panic. "Internal systems are shutting down all across the ship!"

"Let me see," she said. The technician slid over, letting Carter begin typing on the keyboard.

"It happened a few minutes after you got back. We have navigation and life support but nothing else is responding."

"Take us into orbit," Carter ordered. "We can't decloak when we're this close to the ground."

Nova thought back to when Athena put the coordinates into the computer. Did she upload a virus? Impossible. The computer she was given was on a completely separate from the rest of the network. They only reason they were able to transmit the coordinates to Homeworld Command was because they had a camera recording everything she put. Even if Athena had uploaded a virus, it wouldn't affect the ship.

Carter continued working as all the other technicians on the bridged scrambled about, desperately trying to fix things, guards moving around to avoid getting in their way, one of them gently brushing past her. At that moment, Carter straightened up. Nova could tell something caught Sam's attention.

"Colonel?" Nova asked, worried by Carter's reaction. Carter stepped away from the computer in confusion, looking at the man that just walked by. He kept his head low, his hand over to his head as if he was dealing with a headache. She quickly walked after the man. It looked like one of the soldiers that helped them raid the facility on the ground.

"Hey," she called out, firmly grabbing him by the shoulder. She should've realized this before. Now in arm's reach, she could feel it. There was no doubt in her mind. The man turned around, realizing there was no point in hiding it; they both could sense it in each other. He turned around, his eyes glowing. Everyone immediately got to their feet after seeing his eyes glow.

Carter immediately pulled her sidearm out to fire but the ashrak grabbed her hand before the pistol could be pointed at it. The other guards took aim but they couldn't fire without the risk of hitting Colonel Carter. At that moment, a knife seemed to slide out of the sleeve of the Goa'uld assassin and into its hand.

"Colonel, look out!" Nova yelled, rushing to help. Carter jumped back as the blade barely missed her chest. With distance between it and her, the ashrak turned and ran, cloaking once more and disappearing into the hall.

"Carter, you ok?" Nova asked. "What happened?"

"I should've seen this coming," Carter said, thinking back on the SGC's first encounter with an ashrak. "He posed as one our people to get on the ship." Carter rushed back to the computer. With the chaos during a firefight, it would've been easy for a cloaked ashrak to drag off a body, dawn their uniform, and retreat with the group. Everyone would be so panicked that no one would notice the new face.

"Status report!" Carter called out.

"We've just exited the atmosphere but the engines are failing."

"The cloak's done. We're completely visible."

"Get us into geosynchronous orbit," Sam said. If the engines fail now they'll just plummet back to the planet.

"Colonel, the Asgard transporter's been activated. "Something's been beamed into the cargo hold."

"Get a security team down there, now!" she ordered. The ashrak must've programmed the computers to beam something aboard the ship. It could've been a bomb, it could've been an army. She couldn't get distracted by the other issues just yet.

"We still can't find the source of the problem."

"I have," Carter announced as an array of text began to crawl up the screen. "It's a Goa'uld computer virus. I'm going to attempt a full shutdown. That should get rid of the virus."

"Look out!" a voice screamed. The ashrak was back, taking a grenade from the gear he stole and tossing it into the center of the room. Nova felt herself sent flying forwards as the pressure wall slammed into her like a freight train. She groaned in pain, covering her now ringing ears. She was still dazed as she looked up, watching as the Ashrak pull out the pistol it had holstered and begin gunning down everyone on the bridge. She yanked out her own pistol, not even bothering to get up as she took aim. By the time the ashrak realized that one of the people on the ground was very much alive and aiming at it, Nova had already pulled the trigger, the shot hitting the Goa'uld right in the forehead.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked, looking around. And her heart dropped. Over half the computer stations were completely destroyed and several technicians lay on the ground, dead or dying. One of them, Samantha Carter. Nova rushed over, her eyes wild with panic.

"Colonel," she said, hesitant to shake Carter's body. She was breathing and there was a pulse. It wasn't too late yet she needed a doctor immediately. "Carter, can you hear me?!" Nova yelled, not sure what to do.

"Engines are down!" one of the surviving technicians yelled in panic. "We're falling back to the planet."

"I'm trying to shut down our systems but I'm locked out," another one yelled. Restarting the systems would purge the virus the computers weren't working. Nova looked at the frightened crew members, then back at the unconscious Colonel Carter. There was no way this could get any worse.

-.-

The security team burst into the cargo hold, guns drawn. The Typhon's cargo hold was about the size of a large garage and could even serve as a hangar if need be. At the moment, the crates of equipment just sat there.

"Colonel Carter, we've reached the cargo hold," one of the officers said over the radio, oblivious to what was happening on the bridge. "Still no sign of any intruder."

The group began to slowly sweep the cargo hold, scanning every inch of it. Well, not every inch. It wasn't until they heard the scraping of swords being drawn from their scabbards and the rustling of TER's being drawn from their holsters that they finally looked up. There they were, in the scaffolding at the top of the room, hanging from the support beams like a small mob of demons. Ashrak of the Shadow's Hand. They dropped from the ceiling, raining onto the security team. Their screams echoed throughout the entire room as they were effortlessly cut down.

-.-

Nova felt the entire ship lurch as it smashed into the atmosphere.

"We have reports of multiple hostiles exiting the cargo hold!" she heard a technician yell.

"If we don't get the virus out of the computers, we're not going to make it!" another quickly said, hands flying over the computer in desperation. Nova's mind was racing. Hostiles exiting the cargo hold? It didn't make sense. It looked like the virus was going to cause them to crash into the planet anyways. Sending one ashrak on a suicide mission to get this done was one thing but why did he beam another group onboard.

She couldn't focus on the ashrak. She had to find a way to stop the Typhon from crashing. Computer weren't working; they needed a master hacker to bypass. But Carter was the only one who might've been able to that. No. There was one more.

"Stay here," Nova ordered the bridge crew. Grabbing the wall for support, she managed to stumble into the hallway. She never thought she'd be so happy for a small ship. Aside from being sent tumbling down a flight of stairs, she easily made it to Athena's cell.

"Open it!" Nova told Peterson. He did without a moment's hesitation and Nova stumbled into the cell. Athena was holding onto the walls of her cell to make sure she wasn't tossed about like a sack of potatoes.

"Even after my assistance you still manage-"

Athena wasn't able to finish her sentence as Nova pulled out a pistol and clobbered her over the head. Time was running out and Nova some straight answers.

"Those coordinates you gave us, it was a trap!" Nova shouted, pressing the barrel of her gun against the Goa'uld's head. Her eyes locked onto Athena's, watching the Goa'uld's expression. It was originally one of frustration but it immediately changed to shock and fear.

"I could not have known!" Athena argued but Nova wasn't convinced yet.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger," Nova demanded.

"If you truly believed that I deceived you, then you wouldn't allow me to live unless you had good reason."

This was not the answer Nova was hoping for. Athena could've set them up, giving them a location and having the Trust wait for them. Or, Athena could've been manipulated. Terra couldn't waste any more time interrogating the Goa'uld. She had to make a decision.

"There's a virus in the computers and its wreaking havoc on the systems," Nova explained, hauling Athena to her feet.

"Surely you have backups of all your systems," Athena said. These humans may have been pathetic but she expected more. "Shut down your entire system then reboot using your backups."

"We've tried but the computer's locked us out!" Nova snapped. "You help us or we all die together." Athena clearly didn't like this arrangement but she didn't have much a voice.

"Lead the way," she growled. Nova had just stepped out into the hallway when a bloodcurdling scream caught her attention. Looked in the direction of the scream. Crewmen were springing for their lives while several security guards fired blindly into an empty hall. Suddenly, an ashrak emerged from the nothing and cleaved through the guards with its blade, just long enough for it to see the terror in their eyes before cloaking once again.

"Go!" Nova yelled, practically shoving Athena in the opposite direction. Nova was about to take off too but realized that Peterson was staying behind.

"Go, I'll cover you," he yelled but Terra Nova wasn't going to have it.

"No you're not," she said, grabbing him and shoving him the opposite direction. Peterson opened his mouth to protest but Nova shoved him again. There are always casualties in a fight. Nova knew this and she hated it. The only other thing she hated more was pointless casualties, people dying when they didn't need to: civilians getting killed by stray fire or because of bad intel, or soldiers needlessly sacrificing themselves. At best, Peterson could buy them three seconds but nothing worth him dying over. The three of them took off for the bridge as the ashrak mercilessly cut its way through the feeing crowd.

The bridge was still in a panic by the time they got back. Everyone was stunned to see Nova walk in with a Goa'uld.

"Major?" Peterson said as Athena took a seat at a computer and began pounding away at the keyboard. "You sure about this? She is a Goa'uld."

"We don't really have a choice," Nova pointed out, grabbing onto the wall for balance. She watched as Athena's hands flew over the keyboard.

"I regained access to your computers systems," she said. "Commencing shutdown." All the lights went out as she said this. There were no windows on the bridge so it was pitch black. Then, the lights all came back on as the system rebooted again.

"Engines are back online!" one of the technicians shouted triumphantly.

"Pull us up!" Nova ordered. She could feel the entire ship rattle as the inertial dampeners were pushed to their limit, the ship pulling up and away from the ground. Suddenly, a terrified scream caught everyone attention. A pair of ashrak had emerged from the hallway, ready to begin the slaughter. They lunged forward but were almost immediately hurtled backwards into the wall with enough force that all their bones shattered.

"What just happened?!" Nova demanded to know when she saw the ashrak hit the wall. Athena was staring over triumphantly.

"I turned off the inertial dampeners on all parts of the ship expect the bridge," she explained with a smile.

"We crewmen back there!" Peterson snapped angrily.

"They were already dead!" Athena snapped back. "I scanned your ship. The only human life signs left are in this room." Peterson felt his blood run cold. All those people, their lives extinguished.

"We're leveling out," a technician said with a sigh of relief. Everyone was still on edge, still taking in what just happened. Nova knelt by Carter. She was still alive. Athena looked over, stepping away from the computer.

"What now?" the Goa'uld asked. Operation Typhon: the operation to bring down the gods of the Milky Way, to bring down the Trust and end the Goa'uld. It was the first mission and already things were not looking good.

-.-

Technically speaking, the damage to the Typhon was superficial. The biggest issue came from the virus which was now gone. The ship went back into orbit and beamed the crew down the SGC. Nova stood in the corner of the infirmary, watching Sam Carter's hospital bed.

"Major Nova," a voice croaked. Nova immediately recognized General Mercer's voice. They were in clear view of everyone so Am-heh was going to have to take a back seat. Last time Nova saw Mercer he was in his askrak armor. Now he was back in his dark blue dress uniform.

"How long has he been there?" Mercer asked, glancing at General O'Neill, who had pulled up a chair next to Carter's bedside. He'd been there for so long that he had fallen asleep in it.

"Hasn't left her side since she got back," Nova said. "I heard Teal'c and Doctor Jackson are on their way too."

"They'll be here within the hour," Mercer said calmly.

"So who's going to run Operation Typhon with Colonel Carter injured?"

"That's why I'm here. They're done interrogating Athena and have returned her to her holding cell. The IOA want to talk to you next."

"About what?" Nova asked in annoyance. Just when it seemed like this would be one affair the IOA would not meddle in, here they are to start poking and prodding. Nova knew how politics works. If something goes right, try to take the credit. If something goes wrong, try to blame the opposing group. And they always view themselves as right while attacking the other side.

"They're politicians," Mercer remarked disdainfully as he turned and walked away. "Take a guess."

-.-

A Goa'uld cargo ship touched down in an empty parking lot, decloaking as it landed. Almost a dozen people waited in front of the cargo ship, waiting for the guests of doors opened and the Director casually strolled out, Ammit and Duat following right behind him, servant and bodyguard.

"It appears that our opponent is not as formidable as we predicted," Duat remarked. "A single ashrak nearly cost them their entire crew. I'm beginning to think we should've told them our plan."

"The Tau'ri have proven intelligent if they truly wish to be," the Director said. "I'm confident they'll figure it out." As the trio approached the group in front of them, Ammit immediately stepped forward.

"Gentlemen," she greeted. "We have much to discuss."

"Why have you called this meeting?" one of the men in front of her demanded to know.

"It's time we move to the next stage," Ammit explained. "My associates, Duat and Vu'Dir will be assisting us." Director was merely a translated title. Vu'Dir was the Director's name in Goa'uld.

"We are missing three people," a woman near the back pointed out.

"That should not affect anything," Ammit immediately replied. "Shall we begin?"


	3. Chapter 3

Mercer could tell from Nova's grim expression that her 'interview' with the IOA did not go well. How could it? Operation Typhon was supposed to be a campaign against the Trust using Athena's knowledge of their inner workings and the very first mission ends in disaster.

The General marched into the conference room, his hands folded behind his back, his face stern. He knew he was interrupting but, considering all the politicians were doing nothing but arguing who to blame, he wasn't interrupting much.

"General Mercer, what are you doing?" one of the IOA members asked irritably. "You are aware that this is a private meeting?"

At that moment, Mercer's eyes glowed as Am-heh seized control of the body.

"I care not for Tau'ri privacy nor politics," the Goa'uld said, stepping up to the conference table. Several IOA members shifted uncomfortably in their seats at the presence of Am-heh. After all, they were in the presence of a professional killer.

"Am-heh, now is not a good time," Dovelock said from near the back of the room. Luthor Dovelock has been around Am-heh more than any other member of the IOA and was not as terrified as they were, though he did still feel disturbed by the alien assassin's presence. "We need to decide what to do about Operation Typhon."

"Yes…it seems to have become a habit of you sending me to claim your victories and clean your messes."

"We never said we intended on sending you," another IOA member snapped defensively. Am-heh, however, was not convinced by this statement.

"Really? Tell me then…what was your plan on ending the Trust now?"

No one answered as they silent acknowledged that they did intend on simply sending Am-heh in to deal with the situation. Every time something went wrong or they wanted something done, they sent Am-heh. Whether it be hunting down surviving Goa'uld in hiding or hunting Trust leaders, they had been sending Am-heh to do all their dirty work.

"Please don't take my skills for granted," Am-heh said in an eerily calm voice. "Remember the only reason I serve you is because there is something for me to gain out of it."

"Look, you have to admit, you are our best option," said a woman near the back. "You are 'Devourer of Millions'."

"And these are my colleagues," Am-heh replied. "All experts of their field, all dedicated to killing. It is a mistake to underestimate them. It is also a mistake to assume that I am oblivious to what you are doing."

"What are you talking about?" another IOA member demanded to know.

"The IOA's become an embarrassment. Every attempt to meddle in the affairs of the SGC has resulted in even worse consequences costing lives and money. Every situation, you attempt to merely place blame while offering no solutions. The SGC and your respective governments are beginning to perceive all you as utterly incompetent. You hope that I can bring in a string of victories that will prove to them that you are not as inept as you seem."

Everyone in the room fell silent, disturbed that their 'weapon' was not as mindless as they hoped.

-.-

The food in the SGC's mess hall certainly hasn't gotten any better but, if Nova wanted a place to mope then this would be the best spot. She got her platter of oatmeal and took the table in the far corner. She needed to get away from the stares.

O'Neill was still in the infirmary, still by Carter's side. Nova's already been plagued by the question: "What went wrong?", "How did you lose with Carter helping you?" Terra could imagine O'Neill was probably wondering the same thing.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nova saw someone walk up to her table. She groaned in annoyance, expecting either an IOA member coming to reprimand her or some other member of the SGC come to continue pestering her on what happened with Operation Typhon. She was surprised to see-

"Peterson," she said in surprised as the man pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Hey," he greeted in a friendly tone. "I'm guessing the IOA interview didn't go well."

"It went fine. They only wanted to blame the whole incident on me and hold me responsible for the deaths of most of the crew."

"Well...look on the bright side," Peterson tried to joke but his voice trailed off when he realized he didn't know what to say next.

"You know when you say that, you're supposed to follow it up with the bright side," Nova pointed out in an unamsed tone. This was a little better than being asked about what went wrong with Operation Typhon but she was getting a little tired of his patronizing. "Peterson, what do you want?"

The man gave a sigh, deciding not to beat around the bush any longer.

"I came to say I'm sorry," he said. "I admit, back on the ship, I was disappointed that Carter brought you instead of Hailey. I judged to early. You saved my life. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead."

"I wish the IOA thought the same way," Nova remarked.

"Hey, blaming everyone else is in their job description."

Even Nova had to chuckle at this remark.

"So what now?" Peterson finally asked. "I mean like, they can't continue Operation Typhon, right?"

"I know Athena's pissed off. The IOA still considering what to do with her."

"Didn't we promise to let her live?"

"Yes, but some of the IOA think that it's inhumane to leave Charlotte Mayfield in this position. Others still want Mayfield to stand trial for her association with the Trust. In other words, the IOA might go back on the deal and we still might need Athena."

"Can't Athena share the body?"

"I really doubt she would be honest about it." Before they could continue talking, however, Nova spotted General Mercer walk into the mess hall.

"General!" he said, immediately standing at attention with Peterson following suit. Mercer simply raised his hand and laughed at the sight.

"At ease," he said in a friendly tone. It's been such a long day for Nova, she had forgotten how warm Mercer could seem. "I'm just here to get Major Nova."

"For what?" she asked in surprise. Terra figured the IOA would insist on keeping her confined to the SGC until they decide what to do with her.

"I'm meeting with the Tok'ra. Hopefully they can help us with the situation. I am ordering you to come along."

-.-

Elsewhere on Earth, the Director leaned back in his office chair. If these humans could do something, they could create comfortable furniture if they wanted. He looked at the computers in front of him. Every war, every riot, every murder, and he could read about them all.

"Director," Duat said, stepping into the room. "Everything is ready for the final step."

"Have the Tau'ri forces arrived yet?" the Director asked lazily.

"No, sir. There has been no sightings of the Tau'ri."

"Hmm...a pity. I had hoped my monologue would make our intentions obvious. It would've been a lot more interesting if they had attempted to interfere."

"Do you wish to wait before continuing?"

"No need. Proceed to the final step," the Director ordered, clasping his hands together excitedly. Duat turned to exit the room, his white lab coat flapping behind him, but paused at the door.

"Director, several members of the Trust have voiced concern over the three missing members," he said.

"It doesn't matter," the Director said with a grin hidden behind his white mask. "Once we finish, none of it will matter for them."

-.-

Nova glanced behind her as the shimmering blue wormhole vanished, her P90 cradled in her hand. She really needed to get away from the SGC, just get away from everything. Though, she had a feeling this trip with Mercer was not going to be a walk in the park. It was also strange seeing the old man out of his formal service dress uniform and in a battle dress uniform. Nova chuckled as she thought how this is the exact opposite of General O'Neill, who's always said he hated the service uniforms while they seem to be the only thing Mercer and Am-heh wear.

"General, where are we?" Terra finally asked. She knew they were meeting the Tok'ra but this didn't look like the world with the Tok'ra base. Mercer didn't answer. He simply walked up the grassy hillside and looked over the horizon. His eyes glowed as Am-heh took over and finally answered: "Home."

Nova quickly caught up and saw what they were searching for. Basking in the orange rays of the sun, the ruins of the pyramid laid half destroyed and forgotten for a thousand years. Nova could see the tattered metal buildings around the pyramid, moss and vines growing over the ruins.

Am-heh made his way down the hillside with Nova close behind him. The place was a lot bigger than it seemed. The walls were crumbling after a thousand years, letting Nova peer into what looked like countless laboratories. The remains of Goa'uld computers were covered in dust, sand, and dirt. She doubted the data crystals could even be read after so long.

"This was where they trained the Shadow's Hand," Mercer explained, stepping over what remained of a wall to one of the buildings. Nova followed him in, taking in the sight, observing every detail. This building didn't look like a lab. While it still had a destroyed computer interface, its walls were lined an assortment of weapons: staffs, zat'nik'tels, TER's. It even had melee weapons: krantu, training staffs, a variety of swords and an even larger variety of knives.

Nova picked up one of the staff weapons, dirt pouring out of every crack. Abandoned and forgotten, it had been left in disrepair. She flicked the switch that would open the paddle and charge the weapon but it did nothing.

"Never thought Goa'uld would ever train with staff weapons," she remaked, setting it aside.

"The regular one wouldn't," Am-heh said, staring through a shattered window. "You never wondered?"

"Wondered what?" Nova asked.

"The ashrak, why they obey, why they serve, why they would volunteer to risk their lives doing the dirty work of the System Lords."

Nova simply looked at the ground. No one had bothered asking that question. The System Lords were the highest of the Goa'uld hierarchy, posing as gods with endless slaves and armies at their disposal. The underlords were not worshipped but they still had slaves at their disposal and an army to command. Then there were the Goa'uld scientists who had an endless supply of test subjects. In every case, the Goa'uld took positions of power and left the dirty work to their human slaves or jaffa warriors. Ego-maniacal and power-hungry, these positions suited the Goa'uld. But the menial task of being an assassin did not suit their nature.

"Do you remember the kull warriors?" Am-heh asked, stepping back outside.

"I never fought them but I remember the mission reports," Nova replied stepping over the collapsed metallic beam so she could follow.

"He was quite clever using blank slate symbiotes," Am-heh remarked with a slight chuckle. "Before then, there was only one way to remove a Goa'uld's arrogance and thirst for power, there was only one way to make a Goa'uld subservient: break them. Break their bodies, break their minds, shatter their perception of everything around them. Thirst for power is turned into a thirst for blood. Their arrogance becomes an uncontrollable rage and urge to kill. Once this is achieved, molding them to become assassins is easy."

"Then why can't this be applied to Anubis's supersoldiers?"

"The process is slow and tedious, costing enormous amounts of time and resources, excellent for creating an elite squad but inefficient for creating an army. We're not individuals, Major Nova. We're weapons; rabid dogs obeying a master with the promise of blood."

"Then what made you change?" Nova asked. "You told me the day you defected to the Tok'ra, you swore not to take another life. Why the sudden change? Ammit?" Ammit was a completely random guess but it seemed she struck it on the head judging from Am-heh's expression. "She was more than your partner, wasn't she?"

Finally, after a long pause, Am-heh answered.

"She was my mate."

-.-

Am-heh continued walking through the abandoned camp with Nova right behind him. There was no doubt this was the Shadow's Hand training camp, a camp producing elite ashrak to be dispensed to the System Lords.

"There they are," Am-heh growled when he saw a single man standing in the center of one of the training rings. It seemed strange that they were meeting the Tok'ra here but she preferred not to question. "Major Nova, this is Mapep, head of the orak vu'lomn."

Like all Tok'ra, Mapep looked human, and he was a rather good looking man with sleek black hair and a slim face. He was, after all, a symbiote inside a human body. Orak vu'lom was the assassin division of Tok'ra. During the early days of the Tok'ra, orak vu'lomn was dispatched to assassinate every System Lord but were recalled when it became apparent that this was doing nothing but making room for more to rise up in their place.

"I appreciate you agreeing to this meeting," Am-heh said. Though Am-heh maintained his gentlemanly formal nature, Mapep was less friendly.

"The Tok'ra Council was very reluctant," he growled. Nova had nearly forgotten that the Tok'ra didn't trust Am-heh. She couldn't blame them especially with Am-heh's reputation. In fact, there were several members of orak vu'lomn that had secretly took part of the Millennium Expedition, ready to kill Am-heh if he returned to his old ways.

"Despite all I've done for them, they still refuse to trust me," Am-heh sighed, shaking his head as the two of them began walking off. "Do I have to remind you that I was the one who hunted down the surviving System Lords after the replicator invasion? I was the one who presented their severed heads and symbiotes. How many must I kill before you stop treating me with such disdain?"

"You can never undo your past, no matter how many you kill to fix it," Mapep snapped angrily. "And we wanted you to bring them in alive so we could extract the symbiotes without harming the host!"

"Gentlemen," Nova quickly interrupted when it became apparent this discussion was devolving into a pointless argument. "We came here for a reason. We are on the same side."

"Does your planet pardon war criminals simply because they apologize?" Mapep fumed.

"We can decide what to with Am-heh later. Right now, we have bigger problems."

If Am-heh was angry he was doing a good job hiding it. He still maintained his pleasant face. It was Mapep that looked like he wanted to shoot somebody.

"What do you want?" he finally growled. Am-heh raised an eyebrow, surprised that Mapep was finally ready for a conversation.

"With the fall of the System Lords, surviving Goa'uld are joining an organization known as the Trust located on the Tau'ri homeworld," Am-heh explained.

"We are aware of this," Mapep said impatiently.

"Are you aware that Ammit has become the leader of the Trust?"

Judging from Mapep's expression, he didn't know.

"She's supposed to be dead," he said darkly.

"I had believed so as well. But she leads the Trust and we both know Ammit's true master. The Tau'ri have just recently suffered a massive defeat at his hands and we cannot let the Shadow's Hand continue to operate."

"You wish for us to lend you warriors?" Mapep asked in disbelief. "Our numbers are already dwindling as it is. Finally, the Tok'ra can live at peace and attempt to save our race and you wish for more of us to die?"

"I am part of the Tau'ri's Millennium Expedition to find help for the Tok'ra."

"And you've returned empty handed! First they insist on us fighting the Lucian Alliance. Now they wish for us to combat the Shadow Hand?"

"Aren't orak vu'lomn professional assassins?" Nova asked.

"As are the Shadow's Hand. These are not simple minded zealous jaffa. Ashrak know our tactics. We will be on equal ground and casualties will be enormous."

"Is there any way you could help?" Nova asked desperately. Mapep gave a sigh. The Tok'ra and Tau'ri were allies, friends, brothers in arms. They should help. But there was no way they could.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot help you," he said solemnly. "We will not risk men unless absolutely necessary."

"What if it wasn't men?" Nova asked. Mapep looked at her curiously at the sudden change in the agreement. "We've worked out a deal with a Goa'uld we have prisoner but she wants to be allowed to live."

"So you're more concerned for the Goa'uld than the host?" Mapep asked suspiciously.

"I'm asking because of the host. The Tok'ra were allies with the Tollan. The Tollan once created a device that would let the symbiote and host to share the body, make it impossible for only one to own it. Can you build that for us?"

"That is out of orak vu'lomn's jurisdiction. It would have to be brought up with the Tok'ra council. And even if they approve, it may take some time to construct due to lack of resources."

"What if we could provide you with the resources? Or, you could provide us with the schematics and we could build it."

"You?" Mapep repeated.

"We've gotten pretty good using Ancient technology, and we have the Asgard core. We just need to know how to build it."

Mapep paused to think about it. The Tau'ri have become quite advanced since they were first encountered.

"I'll take it up with the Tok'ra council," he finally said. "But, I don't see why they would say no."

Am-heh raised a surprise eyebrow at this. Getting Tok'ra to help them take down the Trust would've been better but this was better than nothing.

"Excellent," he said with a smile. "Perhaps you can order your four snipers to stand down." Mapep looked at Am-heh in surprise. He should've figured the master assassin would notice the snipers aimed at him.

"Tok'ra kree!" Mapep called out. With that order, Nova watched as four other Tok'ra seemed to come out of nowhere, unburying themselves from under debris, stepping out of bushes, and walking out of the destroyed buildings, staff weapons in hand. Nova remembered that the first time SG-1 encountered the Tok'ra, they emerged out of sand dunes. Guess that had all forgotten what the Tok'ra could do if they deemed it necessary.

"C'mon, Major," Am-heh said, turning to head back to the stargate.

Nova was about to join him when Mapep reached out and put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Major Nova, was it?" he asked. "I must apologize if I seemed hostile; orak vu'lomn hold the Tau'ri in the highest regard. It was because of you the Goa'uld have been defeated. But, do you really trust this man? This man: a mass murderer of millions."

Nova looked at Am-heh, thinking about every tyrannical dictator in Earth's history responsible for infamous massacres. The Goa'uld weren't much different. And Am-heh was responsible for just as many deaths.

"We don't have a choice," she said. "We need him to stop the Trust. He's the only one that can fight the Shadow's Hand."

Mapep pauses to consider this before saying, "Very well. Just be careful."

-.-

Nova could not help but think about how things were back during the Tau'ri-Goa'uld war. It was before her time but the mission reports made it seem like the alliance between Earth and the jaffa and Tok'ra were a lot stronger. Now it seems like none of them care about each other at all, especially after the death of Ba'al.

As she stepped back into the SGC gate room, she could immediately tell something was wrong. She expected a small group of soldiers with guns trained at the gate in case of uninvited guests and General Landry welcoming them back. But Landry was not in the control room at all and several technicians scurried about frantically, folders in hand.

"What's going on?" she wondered out loud, walking down the ramp. Mercer didn't say a word as he hurried off. Nova was having trouble interpreting everyone's expression. If it was some some sort of alien invasion or world-ending catastrophe they would be more terrified. But, something had everyone on edge.

"What's going on?!" Nova called out as she and Mercer made it to the control room.

"About an hour ago, over 500 SGC documents just appeared online," one of the technicians explained. Nova pulled up a chair and began quickly working at the computer. She had to see this for herself.

"Any luck removing them?" she asked.

"We've tried but more keep popping up," another technician said. "And, if they hit the deep web there'll be no way for us to get rid of them."

They had managed to keep the stargate a secret for so long, it seemed almost impossible for it to just go public like this. Alec Colson, Goa'uld invasions, alien outbreaks, and this is how it goes down.

-.-

"What is the meaning of this!"

With files about the Stargate online, word was spreading quickly and it was quite obvious who was responsible. The Trust leaders surrounded Ammit, demanding an answer.

"Over 500 documents released and given to the planet's media. This is planet is now aware of the stargate. Explain yourself!"

Despite their angry glares, Ammit remained calm, hands folded behind her back, her eyes staring straight ahead with a stoic expression on her face.

"Answer me!" the Goa'uld roared at her in its usual distorted voice.

"She won't answer you," a response echoed from down the hall. The Director slowly emerged from the shadows, staring at the crowd through his porcelain white mask with Duat right behind him. "She answers to me."

At that statement, like a dog summoned by its master, Ammit walked up behind the Director, right beside Duat. The two of them stood by their master, who went to address the crowd.

"I truly do apologize for the deception," the Director said kindly. "For the past several months, you obeyed Ammit. However, she has always obeyed me."

"Then what is the meaning of this?" the Goa'uld roared. "Why would you release the documents?" There was a time that entire crowds would cower in fear when this happened. The wrath of a goa'uld usually meant an insignificant grub was about to be executed. But that time was gone. What this goa'uld doesn't know, is that he will be the one cowering soon.

"Why?" the Director repeated with a laugh. "Business of course! I've always been fascinated by the System Lords' attempts to destroy this planet. Invasion fleets, biological weapons stored within teeth, explosives stored within children, asteroids, all to no avail. Somehow, they even manage to still keep the entire thing a secret from their public! Even your attempt to start nuclear war has failed. Yet, you do not take the most obvious method of attack."

"Without the jaffa, we cannot reclaim our property! Our only hope is to seize control of this world from within, and now you've made that impossible!."

The Director sighed and shook his head in amusement when he heard this.

"Like all other goa'uld, you are blinded by your greed."

"You've ruined all our plans you fool!" the goa'uld roared, pulling out a pistol in rage.

Suddenly, he felt a freezing cold tingle go down his arm as he lost all feeling in his hand. He looked down in horror. He had no hand.

Blood dripped from Ammit's long curved sword. With its long two-handed hilt and single edged blade, it had easily cleaved through the man's wrist. All the other Goa'uld-infested Trust officials stared in disbelief. Several of them prepared to draw their guns but they all froze. The shadows behind the Director seemed to come to life, humanoid figures stepping out of the darkness, the flash of several glowing eyes piercing the black veil that covered hall as more ashrak emerged from the shadows, TER's and staff weapons aimed at the quarry. The Trust officials slowly backed up in fear but saw that a hulking ashrak had appeared behind them carrying a portable staff cannon with a massive krantu blade attached beneath it.

"Let us forget that act of aggression and we'll all look toward the future," the Director said cheerfully as Ammit sheathed her sword. "The Tau'ri will soon realize that we are the one responsible for revealing their precious program and will soon arrive to stop us. Distribute firearms to all our operatives gathered here today and tell them to prepare for the fight of their lives."

"We don't have enough weapons for everyone!" the injured Goa'uld protested.

"Then arm them with pipes, kitchen knives, anything available. Just arm and assemble my servants. Once the humans arrive, we shall greet them grand barrage of violence and slaughter. Sound like fun?"

The injured goa'uld looked at his severed hand then back at the Director, his body trembling with fury at this statement. The role of cannon fodder used to be given to their armies of jaffa. Now, not only have they lost their power, they were now the cannon fodder of the Director. He would not stand for this.

"No!" he yelled defiantly. "We were once the gods of this galaxy! We only followed Ammit's orders so we could strike back at the Tau'ri and reclaim what is ours! But this is not the victory we were promised; this is just mindless violence. We are not your slaves and we will not be sent to our deaths!"

The Director chuckled and shook his head at this. He simply snapped his fingers and the hulking ashrak at the back gave a compliant growl. The injured goa'uld looked behind him and gave a final horrified scream as the ashrak swung his staff cannon, the blade attached beneath it slicing through its victim, the mangled body hitting the ground. Ammit maintained her usual calm composure while Duat smiled in amusement as they watched their underling get executed in front of them.

"Aka Manah," the Director called out. The massive ashrak looked up at his master with a growl. "Arm every operative gathered today, Aka Manah. Is that understood? The fate of those who disobey, I will leave in your capable hands. Everything is going exactly as planned. By the time the Trust realizes the dangers of dealing with devils, we will have come to collect."

-.-

General Landry hated politics as much if not more than just about every other person working at the SGC and he was fuming over what was happening.

"The media's having a field day over this!" he yelled at everyone in the conference room. Nova watched as he paced back and forth, the screen at the front of the room showing several media outlets reporting on the subject, questioning whether this 'stargate' was an actual government project or a mere hoax.

"It seems to be worse than that," an IOA member near the back remarked. "It appears that many of the leaked document have been falsified. Business man Alec Colson is currently hiding off-world but one of the documents details what looks like an order to assassinate him. Several mission reports have been altered to portray the Goa'uld as benevolent leaders and make it look as if the SG teams were ordered to kill them in order to steal resources. The list goes on."

"But not all the mission reports were altered?" Landry asked, making sure he has the story straight.

"No. Some of the leaked documents are genuine copies. But the fakes are really well made."

"Some of these documents have to potential to strain the alliance we have with the other countries," Colonel Davis said. "At least three forged documents make it seem like the SGC's been hoarding the most advanced pieces of alien technologies from the other members of the P5."

Even Nova knew what this. P5, also known as the Big Five, were the permanent five members of the UN security council. They were also the first five countries to know about the stargate. The United States had agreed that they would share technology with the other four willingly. It would really strain relations if they believed the SGC has violated that agreement. The fakes were mixed in with the real documents, and only the SGC could filter out which was which.

"How have the other countries involved with the program reacted?" one of the Air Force officers at the back asked.

"Some of them are dismissing the documents. Others are demanding a thorough investigation of the SGC. In fact, the politicians that believe the documents and the ones that don't are at each others throats."

"I should've seen this coming," Nova muttered to herself angrily. Everyone in the room turned to look at her when she said this. "The timing of this is too perfect. It's the Trust! When we met the Director, he claimed three things: he used the Trust's resources and influence to create the Stargate Council, he used his ashrak to manipulate the System Lords into fighting each other without end and no victor, and he went on about getting people to fight each other. This must've been his plan all along."

"You think the falsified documents are what he showed the Stargate Council?" Davis asked.

"Didn't he use some sort of brainwashing device too?" another IOA member pointed out.

"Because he wanted to see the most extreme result," Nova explained. "Now, he just wants to create as much division and chaos as possible. It also explains why he only leaked out documents. It's not solid proof; it leaves questions and the possibility to be a giant hoax. I mean, if you didn't know about the stargate, how would you react if papers showed up saying the government's been going to other planets through a giant ring?"

"If he really wanted to instigate violence, aren't there easier ways of doing that?"

"Look, I don't have all the answers," Nova said defensively. "But, from what the Director said and what..." Nova voice trailed off for a moment. She was about to say 'what Am-heh told her' but she remembered that most of the people in the room was oblivious to him. "-and what I've been told about the Director, this is most definitely his doing."

"Well the president wants us to deal with the situation as soon as possible," Landry said angrily.

"How're we supposed to do that? We don't know where their base of operations is."

As if to answer her question, IOA official Luthor Dovelock stepped into the room.

"I think we can help with that," he said. Just about everyone who wasn't an IOA member stared at him. Usually the IOA came in with complaints and more problems, not solutions. Dovelock set a stack of folders on the table as he explained.

"Two days ago, our...agents apprehended three high ranking members of the Trust. Because of that, we've been able to intercept a transmission to them. Apparently just about all high ranking Trust officials have been called to a meeting. We have a set of coordinates."

Nova could not help but notice how Luthor looked at Landry, as if to boast the IOA's accomplishment. Landry, however, was not as convinced.

"Mind if we see the coordinates?" he asked. This is when Dovelock's face sagged.

"The meeting takes place in an abandoned hotel building in the middle of a large city. And we've detected some sort of shield surrounding the entire. It's interfering with our Asgard beaming technology. If it's similar to the shielding you encountered at the warehouse, you should be able to penetrate it with close proximity. And you can use the X-305's cloaking to get close."

"Mr. Dovelock," Colonel Davis called out. "Even if we take advantage of the situation, most of the Typhon's crew is dead and we need an additional pilot to help fly the ship. We don't have the men to lead an assault."

"What about the IOA Field Operations Division?" Nova asked. "They should have the manpower."

"Major, even with the full strength of the IOA FOD, we still lack a pilot," Davis pointed out. "The 305 isn't the same as the 304 and we don't have enough time to train another.

Nova paused for a moment, thinking about the situation.

"Actually," she said hesitantly. "I think there is one other person."

-.-

Athena looked up in agitation as the door to the brig opened. This was starting to get annoying.

"Here to finally kill me?" she asked.

"We had a deal, didn't we?" Nova said.

"Yes...and your actions nearly got me killed."

Nova could see Athena's bitterness and anger. They thought she would be safe on a stealth ship. No one expected the Typhon to be infiltrated.

"You wanted to live," Nova said. "If we don't take down the Trust, they'll still hunt you down. Which is why I'm here."

"You wish for me to risk my life...again...for your planet and people?" Athena remarked in an unamused tone. Nova walked up to the bars. This was the first time Athena has seen any emotion other than contempt on Nova's face before.

"Yeah," Nova decided to put it. "Look, you're here because you want to live, because the Trust have Ammit and what now looks like an elite team of ashrak to kill you. But, they're trying to take us down too. You're only hope for surviving is if we win."

Athena merely scoffed skeptically at this statement.

"I came to you for protection!" she snapped. "If this is the cost then I'm better off on my own." Nova raised an eyebrow at this statement. Terra gave the guard a nod. Athena stared in shock as the guard opened the cell door.

"Good luck then," Nova said. Athena was taken back by this. Were they really offering to let her go?

"Just like that?" the goa'uld asked.

"If we don't beat the Trust, we're going to have a lot worse problems than you. So, if you really think you stand a chance against the demon of Divine Retribution, good luck to you." Athena looked at the open door. The choice to walk out and not have to put her life in danger was in front of her. "We agreed to protect you in exchange for you help. You don't want to help us? Feel free to walk right on out of here."

Athena didn't say anything, simply staring at the cell door. Assuming Nova was being sincere about letting her go, once she walked through that door she wouldn't have to worry about getting killed because the Tau'ri had her help on some damned mission. But, it would also mean she would be hunted by an assassin of legend.

"I will not be involved in any of fighting," Athena finally said.

"We only need you to help pilot a ship. We've got the fighting."

"And what of the host? I thought the Tau'ri cared for the host. Or will the Tok'ra still extract me once the deal is complete?"

"We've already got that taken care of. Once you fulfill your end, we can create a device that will make it that you will share the body with the host."

Athena scoffed at this notion.

"The Tau'ri do not possess this kind of technology."

"You don't have to believe us. But, like I said, if you think you can last longer on your own...door's open."

Athena looked through the open door one last time. The human had a point. It's either the Trust dies or she dies, and there was no way they could take down the Trust without her help.

-.-

Nova cocked her SPAS-12 shotgun. She didn't know how many members of IOA FOD were joining them but she could tell it was a lot. Several SG teams were even coming along.

"She's right over there," Terra heard a voice call out behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Peterson trying to make his way through the crowd. She knew he would be joining the mission but the two people he was leading caught her completely off guard.

"Martin, Hailey!" she called out. Peterson looked at her in surprise.

"You know these two?" he asked as Charles Martin and Jennifer Hailey made their way out of the crowd.

"Yeah, we worked together on Millennium. But what're you doing here? You're supposed to be with your families."

Martin shrugged casually.

"We heard you needed help," he remarked.

"Nova, it's getting crazy out there," Hailey added. "We need to end this." Nova gave a firm nod. It was high time they ended this.

"Alright, listen up!" Nova announced to the entire room. "This is Operation Typhon, this is the operation we bring an end to the former gods of the Milky Way galaxy. All Trust officials are not gathered in one place. It's time we cut off the head of the snake. The IOA Field Operations Division has the area lockdown. We go in and we apprehend as many people as possible, but our main targets are the heads of the Trust. There's going to be a lot of fighting taking place in a densely populated area. I'm not going to sugar coat it; there'll probably be a lot of civilian casualties. And those faces may haunt us for the rest of our lives. But there'll be more death if we don't and even more death if we fail. That is why we won't fail. Today is the day the goa'uld finally come to an end."

-.-

"Humans, we're approaching the coordinates," Athena announced over the inter-com. "You humans better keep your promise." When she first surrendered to the Tau'ri, she expected a padded room and a building full of guards, something that would protect her. Instead, she's been going on missions with them. But, Nova was right. If the Trust wanted her dead, the only way she could survive is if these humans win. Never, in her life did she think she would be working with humans as equals. That thought should've been sickening. But, this was a sacrifice she was willing to make as long as she lived. Survive now, and she could find another way out of this predicament later.

"I'm activating the cloak," Athena announced. With a few button presses, the Typhon vanished as it descended upon the city. She glanced at the two armed guards standing on either side of her. She'll put with all this...as long as she gets to live.

"Hey," Nova spoke up behind her, patting Athena on the shoulder. "We will. Are we close enough to beam through the shielding?"

"Yes. I can beam you near the outer perimeter where the shielding is weakest. And I do not appreciate being touched by inferiors; please don't do that again." Nova scoffed in amusement by how robotic Athena said the last statement. "You also have a incoming transmission."

"Put it through."

Nova leaned over so she could better hear the call.

"Major Nova!" a voice yelled over the radio. "We evacuated the surrounding buildings but a riot's already formed outside the perimeter. You better deal with this quickly 'cause if they get in, you'll have civilians in the crossfire."

"Keep them out long as possible, Captain," Nova said. There was a click as the transmission ended. "Athena, put me to the rest of the ship." Nova had to get the team ready and the moment Athena compiled the Major said, "Gentlemen, lock and load, here we go!"

-.-

The Director gently placed his cup of tea back in its saucer before placing both back on the table. He gave a sigh as he picked up his white ceramic mask and placed it upon his face once again. The sound of gunfire and explosions rattled the entire building. He smiled, listening to the sound of the fighting as if it was a soothing melody, his body gently swaying to the tune.

"It sounds like our guests have arrived," he said to Ammit and Duat, who stood faithfully behind him. "Ammit, perhaps you would like to greet our esteemed guests."

"Director," Ammit spoke up. "Am-heh is likely here as well."

"You wish to confront him yourself?" the Director asked, putting his hands together. "Very well; I guess it's time to conclude your lover's quarrel."

Ammit gave a bow before turning and leaving the room while the Director went back to listening to the symphony of violence. There was an explosion followed by panicked yelling and screaming right outside the building.

"Do you hear that, Duat?" the Director asked with a smile. "It's beautiful."

-.-

Nova dove forward as a hail of bullets tore through the wall behind her. The Trust may have the Shadow's Hand on their side but they still mostly used human Trust operatives to do their dirty work. It was getting problematic. One of the squads had been ambushed and her squad rushed to save them but it looked like it was too late. It looked like only three of them remained.

Terra pressed herself against couch as more bullets flew overhead. It wasn't much cover, a few bullets would tear through it and her, but it was better than being out in the open. She lifted her shotgun above her head and began blindly blasting in the direction of the enemy. She couldn't tell if she was hitting anything but she didn't' care.

Charles Martin peeked out from behind a concrete column as more bullets whizzed by. The rest of the Trust operatives in the lobby were already taken care of, leaving the last four hiding behind the front desk. Bullets flew back and forth across the room in blinding streaks of light, flying past Martin's cover. He tried to step out and return fire but immediately leaned back as more bullets ripped through the air past him.

"Major!" he yelled over the gunfire. "They're behind the front desk. We can't hit them from here." Nova gave a nod and took a grenade off her vest.

"Hailey, cover me!" she ordered. Major Hailey gave a nod, firing her X-699 from the doorway she was hiding behind. With no recoil, she easily blasted her energy weapon in the direction of the desk. The Trust operatives ducked back down as the energy bolts burned through their cover like it was nothing. This was the moment Terra Nova had been waiting for.

"Fire in the hole!" she yelled, standing up and throwing the grenade toward the counter. She dove down again as the metal sphere bounced over the wooden surface and onto the ground. The Trust operatives looked at grenade in shock and fear, leaping over the table in a desperate attempt to save themselves as the explosive detonated. The table may have blocked the shrapnel but the shockwave tore through the wood and send the operatives' bodies flying like ragdolls, their mangled corpses tumbling across the ground. One of the operatives got up, lucky enough to survive the blast but he was battered and bruised, his ears ringing from the explosion. He realized that the enemy had all left their cover and was slowly walking towards him.

"Don't do it!" Peterson yelled as the operative's hand flew toward his sidearm. Peterson had no choice and pulled the trigger just as the operative had begun to aim the gun, bullets hitting him center mass, the target's body hitting the ground. The man was injured and surrounded. He had the guy would give up instead of go down fighting.

Now that the fighting in that room was over, Martin and another member of the other squad rushed to clear the halls around it.

"You guys ok?" Nova asked worriedly.

"Bastards caught us by complete surprise," the squad leader answered. "We haven't encountered any ashrak yet but-"

"LOOK OUT!" a voice screamed. Nova looked up just in time to see two of their men get sent flying across the room. They all raised their weapons in the direction of the unseen attacker, the ashrak appearing out of thin air, blade in hand rushing at them like a psychotic killer.

As it charged forth, the alien assassin noticed something attached to the bottom of all the humans' projectile weapon. He didn't know what it was but it looked like part of a TER. That was when he realized it was part of a TER. He had not delcoaked yet he was visible to all. These humans were more adaptable than he thought. Time for a change of plan.

"Fire!" Nova ordered as everyone in the room pulled their triggers and rained hell and hot lead on the assassin. She thought they had him, but suddenly, the ashrak seemed to explode into smoke, a thick gray cloud flying at her and her teammates. She instinctively raised her arms as the haze filled the entire room, everyone vanishing into the fog. Everyone stopped shooting, looking around for the ashrak.

"Anyone have eyes on the target?" Terra Nova called out.

"Negative, I can't see a thing!" another person said.

Nova kept her weapon raised, afraid if she started shooting she would hit one of her teammates. That's when she heard it: the sound of metal slicing through flesh followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor. She aimed her weapon in the direction of the noise but didn't shoot, still not sure what to do. Suddenly, she heard the same thing behind her...and again...and again. She whipped around, ready to shoot but didn't. She froze as silence filled the air. There nothing but her and the thick smoke around her. It looked like the smoke was clearing, objects in the room finally becoming visible. But, something else was becoming visible too. She noticed a black humanoid figure standing before her, the smog making it impossible to see the who it was. She trained her gun on the figure, but was unsure what to do. Her finger stroked the trigger. She didn't want to accidentally shoot a teammate but she couldn't take any chances with ashrak of the Shadow's Hand.

Suddenly, the figure charged at her at inhuman speeds, its glowing eyes piercing through the fog. She let out a surprised yell and fired at the figure. She felt the cold hard floor as she hit the ground but she prepared to fire again as the ashrak leapt into the air, ready to bring its blade down. Her eyes widened in horror, realizing even if she shot and killed the thing, its blade would still slam down on her.

At then, she watched as someone stepped in, holding his arm out and clotheslining the assassin in mid air and sending it crashing back down. The ashrak picked himself off the ground but the man swiftly moved and in a single motion snapped its neck. The lifeless ashrak fell to the floor.

Nova stood up, her shotgun aimed at the man. That couldn't be a member of her squad, could it? Last she checked, no one was trained to snap necks. The last of the fog was clearing up and she watched as the man stood up, his back straight, his arms folded behind his back. Nova blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing this wrong. There was only one person who would stand up like that. It made sense that he would try to join the operation, though it was out of character for him to be so obvious about who he was...unless he wanted her to know.

"Are you alright?" the man asked, walking up to the Major. His face didn't look like Mercer's and his voice didn't either but she couldn't help shake the feeling it was him.

"I'm fine...General," Terra said, adding the last part quietly. The man only gave her a wink. There was no doubt; this was Mercer, or rather Am-heh, in disguise.

She may appreciate him saving her life but she still had to deal with the situation before her. She looked around her, her face sagging. She thought the TER attachments would counter the ashrak's cloak but she didn't count on it using a smoke screen.

"Damn!" she growled, looking over the ground. Now that the room was clear once more she could see that her squad, Hailey, Peterson, and Martin were fine. But, the others were not so lucky. They had come here to rescue this squad and they had failed.

"Nova," Hailey called out, jogging towards her. Nova didn't even bother asking as Hailey simply shook her head. "Looks like you're the only one left," Hailey said to the last man. "You ok?"

"Thanks to you," the man said with a gracious nod. Martin and Peterson jogged to Nova, grim expressions all around.

"All squads are reported being attacked by ashrak," Peterson told Nova. "Squad leaders say that Trust operatives are all taking defensive positions throughout the building while the ashrak appear to be attacking each squad with a head on assault."

"I don't get it," Martin remarked. "According to the other squads they're just going on killing sprees and getting killed in the process. Why haven't they tried to leave?"

"They did the same thing last time too," Nova added, thinking about their ashrak assault on Typhon. "A whole lot of them beamed aboard even though it was about to crash. It's as if they wanted to die."

Hailey clenched her fists at the thought. Many people would relish at the thought of a dead goa'uld with all they've done. But these ashrak seemed hell-bent on taking as many people as possible with them.

"If they were really so eager to die, there were certainly simpler ways of doing it! " Hailey shouted furiously. "These were good people; none of them had to die. If these ashrak are so eager to end their lives, just end it!" Nova looked at Hailey in surprise. Jennifer Hailey was usually so composed and even when angry she had usually expressed it calmly. This was the first time Nova has ever seen Hailey snap like that before.

At that moment, a voice was broadcasted from the ashrak's body. Everyone looked down, startled by the loud static. But it was the voice that came through that really caught everyone off guard.

"You make it sound so simple," the Director's voice broadcasted. Nova and Hailey slowly approached the body, realizing the voice was coming out of what looked like a goa'uld communication orb attached to the ashrak's armor. "I guess it is but, you see, mere death means nothing to us, least of all to an ashrak. I hate to admit it but we've been backed into a bit of a corner. Despite our long string of victories, we are mortals reaching the end of our lives. But you see, none of are eager to die. None of wish for our existence to simply stop. We've all dedicated our lives to something and letting them just end would be pointless. If we are to die it is to be from an endeavor that should shake the pillars of the high heavens and nothing less. My ashraks have dedicated themselves to the beautiful art of dealing death and hunger for more."

Nova kept staring at the sphere as the Director continued his monologue. But, she felt hurried tapping on her shoulder. Terra finally looked up, wondering why Peterson was so panicked. She stared down the hall he pointed at. The lights at the end of the corridor were shattered and the clouds covered the moon outside, blanketing the entire hallway in darkness. But despite all that, Nova could still see a single black figure standing at the end of the hall.

"That's what brought us here: the chance of one final fight," the Director explained. As he said this, the clouds outside finally parted, the moonlight drawing back the shadows that covered the figure. Her eyes flashed, piercing the darkness one last time as it pulled away, her long gray cassock blowing gently in the wind that came through the shattered windows. "We are starving, you see. Our stomachs growl but nothing seems to fill us; nothing sates our appetite. The lives we have taken in the past were just snacks. But the galaxy is a big place and somewhere lies feast of a lifetime. For us to die we have be feasting on a meal, one final challenge like the galaxy has never imagined. Otherwise we would be drifting through our life with no purpose or direction. That is what you mean to us; you are our last chance to rest in eternal peace. I'll tip my hat to you humans of the Tau'ri. You will give us what we've always sought: victory or death! Which one? I do not know, but this will be amusing to watch."

Hailey, Peterson, and Martin prepared to fight but the disguised Am-heh held his arm out to tell them to back off.

"Major Nova," he said. "I got this. Deal with the Director." Nova gave a nod but everyone else looked at her in shock. None of them knew it was Am-heh under that disguise.

"You can't be bloody serious!" Martin exclaimed, keeping his gun at the ready.

"C'mon," Nova said dismissively, turning around and walking down the other hall.

"Nova, we can't," Hailey argued. Nova and Hailey were the same rank, she couldn't order Hailey to leave.

"Hailey," Nova said, putting her hand on Jennifer's shoulder. "If there any time to trust me, it's now. We have to go." Hailey looked at the man, still hesitant. Nova would never just leave someone behind like that unless she knew something the others didn't. And if she did, what was it?

"Fine," she groaned. Nova immediately headed off, not even glancing back with her three friends right behind her. She just needed faith she was doing the right thing.

Am-heh stared at Ammit, waiting until the four other humans were gone and waited a bit longer to make sure before he reached up into his sleeve and removed his mimic device. His hologram faded and his true form emerged, his black ashrak armor covering his body, his goggles raised above his eyes.

"I'm glad to see the humans have not made you soft, my love," Ammit said, slowly walking towards him.

"Their ideology is amusing but not influential," Am-heh chuckled, returning to his usual pose. "They can be a nuisance from time to time. Even now, they wonder why I chose to defect."

"Why did you choose to side with the Tau'ri and Tok'ra?"

"My dear sweet Ammit, when I said I was willing to abandon everything to spend the remainder of my existence with you, I was sincere. As ashrak, we've been born, bred and trained as weapons. But it was you that made me consider that we could be more than mere tools of death."

"At least as weapons, our existence has purpose, a reason to be alive. I confess that what I said and felt was genuine. But, we are weapons, my love. Even the slaughter caused by this planet's worst tyrants cannot measure to the sheer volume of lives we've taken with our bare hands. We are weapons. And one day, you will come to realize this as I have. You will turn on these people. We are nearing the end of our lives...all of us. And, like the rest of us, you will seek one last slaughter before you die."

"Perhaps I will," Am-heh smiled. "Perhaps I won't. But this is the existence I've chosen. And I've chosen to be with you one last time, Ammit."

"So have I, my love; so have I."

Instantly, Am-heh's hand flew to his holstered TER, pulled it out, and began firing at Ammit while she yanked out a pair of MP5 submachine guns and fired back. Am-heh stepped behind a column as bullets streaked through the air. He leaned back out and blasted more crimson bolts back at her. Finally, Ammit heard the click of an empty chamber in her gun. She tossed aside her weapons as Am-heh immediately took advantage of the situation, stepping out into the open and firing. She dove for cover behind a table as the hail crimson bolts of energy streaked past, firing erupting from the wall where they hit. Ammit had no cloak and now she had no gun but she had other tools to even the odds.

Am-heh stepped around the table fired, the blood red energy bolt flew at Ammit. There was no escape this time and there was no dodging the blast that raced for her. The energy bolt met its mark, hitting right in the chest and...flying through her. Am-heh eyes widened in shock.

"A decoy?!" he growled as the hologram of Ammit vanished back into the vo'cume underneath it. If she wasn't there, that could only mean...

Am-heh whipped around, his TER ready to fire but Ammit seized his arm. The weapon fired but the energy bolt simply flew past and hit the wall. Ammit swung Am-heh around, twisted his arm, twisted his hand, trying to pry the gun out of it but he would not let go. Finally, the weapon came loose. Am-heh knew what he had to do. He brought his left hand around, the kara kesh lighting up and firing a kinetic blast sending the TER flying out of reach. He prepared to fire his kara kesh again but Ammit immediately raised hers. The golden gauntlets aimed at each other and fired. Am-heh and Ammit were blasted back, the gem at the center of their palms shattering in a blinding flash of orange light

-.-

Back on board the Typhon, Athena only needed to wait until the humans below won. It seemed strange that she wanted the humans to win in this case. But, there was nothing to do until then. It was at that moment all the lights in the room suddenly went out.

"What happened?" Athena demanded to know, looking around as a few emergency lights came to life.

"Looks like someone shut all the lights off," one of the technicians reported. "All systems are still functioning. I can't get the lights back on though. It's as if someone is at another terminal and overriding my commands."

Athena was already on the case, working from her computer. The human was right; every attempt to turn the lights through the ship on was met by a counter command to keep them off.

"I assure you it wasn't me," Athena told the guards who stared at her suspiciously. They obviously didn't believe her. She WAS a goa'uld. She opened her mouth to continue make a defense but she finally spotted the answer.

Athena's heart dropped as she watched an ashrak decloak at a computer terminal behind the guards. How'd it get on board the ship? And how long has it been there? Has it been there since the ashrak assault on the Typhon, hidden in plain sight? She stood up, too terrified to move.

"Hey, what's going on?" one of the guards asked, realizing how scared Athena suddenly was. One of them turned around...

"Crap!" he yelled, raising his gun. But it was too late. The ashrak dashed forward and, with a single slash of his krantu, cleaved through both guards. And Athena bolted down the corridor, not daring to look back. She could hear the screaming of the other technicians being slaughtered.

-.-

Nova could tell her squad wasn't the first to walk this way. The bodies of several other squads were scattered across the hall along with the ashrak that killed them.

"This is Major Hailey, has anyone apprehended any Trust officials yet?" Hailey asked over the radio. But only static came back.

"I can still hear gunfire," Martin sighed. "They're probably jamming us."

"Hey," Nova hissed. "Stack up on the door." Everyone complied and got ready to breach the door to the last room. They burst in with a bang, weapons raised and ready. What Nova saw was too familiar.

"Ah, Major Nova!" the Director said cheerfully from his chair. "Welcome back."

"It's over, Director!" Nova said as her squad mates scanned the room for any ashrak. Nova expected the Director to go on another rant or monologue some more. But he didn't, and that scared her more than anything else.

"Major, would you like to join me at the window and admire the chaos?" the Director asked happily.

"We're taking you in," Hailey interrupted. "A lot of people died today because of you."

"And more people will die tomorrow because of someone else," the hooded man replied lazily. "Please, come join me at the window. I actually feared you would not make it this far. But, as you heard me say, this is my last show before the curtains fall."

"Hate to break it to you, mate, but your whole show sucks," Martin remarked with a smile. "Once this is all over and we clarify everything, we can use the stargate to unify and bring peace to the planet." Hearing this, the hooded man burst out laughing.

"Peace?" he repeated. "Humanity does not want peace. They want justice; they want to fight for what they see as right and punish those they see as wrong. Becomes a bit of a problem when two people disagree on what's right and wrong. They commit all sorts of atrocities then hide behind a wall of moral excuses."

"And what's your excuse?" Nova asked, picking up a piece of cement on the floor and tossing if forward. The chunk of concrete simply bounced across the ground and came to a stop right beside the Director's chair. At least she knew there wasn't a forcefield protecting him this time.

"I need no excuse; I know exactly what I am. I am the director of the Shadow's Hand. I am responsible for the deaths of millions. I breed monsters, turn them into soldiers, train them, organize them, militarize them, and command them! Case in point."

The squad turned around and felt their heart drop as a massive figure decloaked as it entered the room.

"Bugger," Martin muttered. The four of them stared at the massive figured and it stared back.

-.-

Am-heh stared at Ammit and she stared right back. Am-heh's TER was lost somewhere in the room, and the floor was carpeted by bullet shells. They had attempted to use Tau'ri firearms on each other but simply ended up running out of bullets. They had now drawn out their swords and there was only one thing left to do.

"If feels good, doesn't it?" Ammit asked. "It feels good having a one on one with death."

"It does," Am-heh admitted. This was one thing he could not deny. "It is all that is important; nothing else seems to exist except the instinct of kill or be killed. Rank, personal history, your race, your sex, your own name; it's all meaningless. The fight is the only thing that's real: the fight on behalf of your own life and nothing else. I never feel more complete. I guess you could say it's only during times like these I actually feel alive."

They both got ready, blades in hand, and charged. Am-heh's blade flew forth, stabbing at Ammit furiously. She dodged every strike before lunging forward. Am-heh's saber may have been faster but Ammit's sword hit harder. Their limbs became blurs as they furiously slashed at each other. They were assassins, killers, their ultimate goal was to see the other dead.

Am-heh jumped back and kicked one of the dead humans on the floor. If a regular person did this, nothing would've happened. But, with his goa'uld enhanced strength, the corpse was sent flying at Ammit. She knew this was nothing but a distraction and immediately slashed the corpse in half, charging through it without a moment's hesitation. But the moment she rushed through, she was met by a wall of flying daggers. Half the blades flew by without leaving a scratch but the rest embedded themselves in her body. She quickly tore all the daggers out but Am-heh was already flying at her, weapon in hand. She dove to the ground as he sliced through the air. By the time she got up, Am-heh was already upon her. He plunged the blade down but it simply passed through her. The hologram of Ammit vanished back into another vo'cume as she lunged out of nowhere. He roared in pain as he felt her thrust one of the daggers into his back. Am-heh dashed backwards and vanished, his cloak turning him invisible. Ammit didn't have a TER but she had another idea. She threw down her smoke pellet, the whole room filling with the fog. Whatever space Am-heh occupied could not be occupied by smoke and would give the perfect silhouette.

There he was, rushing at her with his sword.

Am-heh prepared to strike but Ammit was faster, the tip of her sword flying forward and going though his right wrist and straight through the cloaking device. She kept pushing forward with Am-heh stumbling back as he became visible once more. There was a loud clank as the tip of the sword was embedded into the wall, pinning his hand in the air while she plunged the dagger into his stomach. With what little control he had left over his right hand, Am-heh tossed his saber into the air. His left hand shot up and grabbed his weapon. Ammit's eyes widened as Am-heh finally brought the sword down right through her chest and out her spine.

Then it all stopped. Time seemed to come to a halt. They froze, staring at each other in the eye. Ammit coughed up pool of blood while Am-heh struggled just to maintain his grip on his sword. Finally, they both collapsed. Ammit fell back, her sword coming out of the wall and clattering to the ground. Am-heh's hand went limp and he slumped back against the wall. They were both battered and bleeding. But the winner of a knife fight is who is bleeding the least. And it looks like he won.

From the ground she gave a weak cough. Falling backwards had twisted the saber that was already in her body. Her hand gently wiped over the wound. She stared at the blood, a sight she has not seen in a while.

"Don't expect an apology or any form of regret for the path I chose," she said. "I will not be hindered by the question of what our lives might have been if we did spend it together."

"I didn't expect any different from you," Am-heh said, clutching his injured hand.

"Still, as brief as my life was, I did cherish every moment we had together. I lived my life following the path placed before me, obeying the will of the Director. I will not deny that it was my time I spent with you that made this a life worth living for...and maybe even worth dying for."

Am-heh watched as she gave her final breath, her life fading out of her body. He reached up and gently closed her eyes. He carefully removed his saber from her body.

"_Tal met, priem ta shree, tal ma_," he said as he turned and walked away. It was an old saying used by tok'ra, goa'uld, and jaffa. Our love does not end in death.

-.-

The sheer force of the explosion sent Nova and Hailey flying out the door. The hulking ashrak, Aka Manah was destroying them. Nova remembered that every instance they encountered an ashrak of the Shadow's Hand, several people were killed before it could be. Well, there were only four right here. If they wanted to beat this thing, it couldn't be from a head-on fight.

Martin rushed to help Hailey up while Peterson helped Nova to her feet.

"Fire!" Hailey immediately yelled. No one hesitated or questioned. They all timed their guns and started firing. A shimmering orange field instantly formed around him as the bullets and energy bolts collided into it. Suddenly, he burst out of the shield. Nova's eyes widned in shock. How was he moving that fast?

While charging, the ashrak aimed and fired his staff cannon at the squad. Martin and Peterson leapt aside as towering infernos sprang up from where the orange bolts of energy hit.

"I got this!" Hailey yelled, firing the X-699 at the ashrak. A few bolts may have hit but the giant brute seemed to shrug them off as it swung its weapon. Hailey held up 699 and managed to block the enormous blade but her weapon shattered on impact and she was hurtled backwards. Martin aimed his P90 but a swing from Aka Manah's weapon shoved the barrel away. The alien assassin swung again. Martin managed to raise his gun in time to block the swing but was sent tumbling backwards.

With her friends out of the way, Nova aimed her shotgun and fired, but Aka Manah realized this and held the staff cannon in front of his face, shielding it from the shotgun blast. The ashrak prepared to bring the blade down on her and there wasn't enough time to cock her shotgun. Suddenly, Peterson leapt on the thing's back, putting it in a headlock while it trashed to get him off. Nova chambered another round but she couldn't shoot without the risk of hitting Peterson.

Peterson's grip was coming loose and he grabbed the ashrak's giant cannon in a desperate attempt to stay on top. Completely out of patience, Aka Manah tossed his weapon and Peterson aside before going after Nova.

With Peterson out of the way she could finally shoot, but Aka Manah punched the shotgun barrel away from his face before slamming his other fist into the bottom of her jaw, sending her toppling to the ground. Nova fired her shotgun again but it missed completely. The giant ashrak noticed Hailey was getting her sidearm ready while Peterson was trying to figure out how to use the staff cannon. Aka Manah grabbed Nova's leg and swung her in a circle before flinging her at the two, knocking them both over. He turned around but didn't have time to react.

"Yeah!" Martin cheered triumphantly as he plunged his knife into the ashrak's chest.

-.-

Athena found herself huddled in a corner on the ship. The ashrak was still out there, still hunting her. All the lights except the emergency lights were off. It was embarrassing for a goa'uld that once commanded thousands of soldiers and millions of slave who was feared all across the galaxy to be suddenly reduced to a sobbing school girl but that was the situation. She slowly made her way back to the bridge. She was completely helpless here.

The bridge was a mess. The two guards and the technicians had been slaughtered. Maybe she could beam herself of the ship. No, if the humans lost, the ashrak would still come after her.

"Athena!" Nova said over the radio. "Athena come in." Athena looked around in fear. If the ashrak heard this, he's going to come running. She looked down the hall. There was no one there but that could change at any moment. She crawled up to the computer terminal.

"Major Nova, I...may need some help," she whispered, still looking over her shoulder.

"We need help too! I'm going to give you a transport beacon and I need you to beam him away."

"Where?"

"ANYWHERE!"

Athena looked over her shoulder in fear. This was a small ship and that ashrak was out there somewhere.

-.-

With a few swings of his fist, Aka Manah knocked Martin to the ground. Nova took advantage of Martin's distraction and leapt onto the ashrak, planting the beacon on its collar. The thing swung around violently, trying to shake Nova off. Finally, she came hurtling to the ground.

"Now, Athena!" Nova yelled through the radio. Aka Manah raised his foot, preparing to crush Nova under its boot when a blinding flash of light filled the room. Nova shielded her eyes and when she looked back up, Aka Manah was gone.

"That was your last card, Director," Nova said, struggling to get to her feet. She was alive and her squadmates were safe thanks to Athena. "You've lost." The Director wasn't even the least bit moved by this statement.

"On the contrary, I've won," he said, standing up from his chair. "It's too late."

-.-

Elsewhere in the building, Duat was hurriedly typing at a computer linked to the communicator. It used to transmit a signal telling surviving Goa'uld to come to Earth and join the Trust but now they needed it for another purpose.

"It is too late," he said with a smile before hitting the final key. It was done. The message was sent.

"Freeze!" a voice yelled behind him. It seemed that the Tau'ri forces have found him. But, as he said, it was too late. With a flick of his wrist, Duat pulled the pin and clip of the two grenades on his uniform as he turned around with a loud cackle. It was too late.

-.-

Athena stared at the screen. If the computer was accurate, whatever she transported ended up directly in front of the ship's engine exhaust. There was a time when she would relish the thought of burning someone alive like that but at the moment, she was just scared. Suddenly, she felt a hand cover her mouth, dragging her backwards. The ashrak had found her. She closed her eyes. This was it.

That's when a loud bang echoed through the ship and the hand suddenly let go. Athena crawled away and glanced behind her. One of her guards had survived. He was bloodied and beaten but still alive. His hands trembled to aim the pistol. The ashrak gave an inhuman roar and rushed at Athena to finish the job but the guard fired again...and again. He kept pulling the trigger until the mag was finally empty. The ashrak took one last step forward then collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Athena stared at the corpse for a moment, still unable to believe she just survived this. A smile slowly crawled over her face.

"Yes," she muttered, slowly standing up and kicking the ashrak's body. "YES! This is what you deserve, you lowly rat. You and your brethren will perish before our collective might! You will bow before your superiors."

Athena looked up when she heard a weak chuckling. The guard thought it was amusing hearing the goa'uld monologue on another goa'uld. Athena took one last glance at the ashrak before walking over to the surviving guard.

"Human, where is your medical equipment?" she asked.

"First aid kit's on the wall," the guard said weakly, wiping away some blood that was dripping over his eye. Athena gave a simple nod.

"You will have to tell me what to do," she said, grabbing the first aid. "I am still unfamiliar with your inferior biology."

-.-

Nova and her squad struggled to keep balance as the whole building seemed to rattle from a nearby explosion, dust coming loose from the ceiling and sprinkling on them.

"Was that a grenade?" Peterson wondered outloud. Nova looked at the ceiling, watching the dust fall. When she looked up the Director was sprinting for the door.

"STOP!" she yelled. Instinct accidentally kicked in and she fired at him. They all rushed after him but Martin ended up running face first into a shimmering blue shield.

"Bugger me!" he yelled in frustration, holding his nose.

"Let it go," Hailey suggested. "The fighting seems to be dying down. We'll get him later."

-.-

The Director looked down at himself and gave a small laugh. Human blood was red and his duster was a shade of crimson. Yet, the blood being soaked by it looked brown. It seemed almost funny to him. She didn't know it but Nova did get him. The shogtun blast hat hit him square in the chest. The Director slumped back against a wall. By this age, the healing power of the symbiote was next to useless. It looked like this was the end, and the Director smiled. This was the end he had hoped for.

The sound of footsteps made him look up. Maybe his end would be better than he expected. Am-heh, still injured and bleeding from his fight, had finally found him.

"And here he is," the Director said weakly. "The monster returns to kill his creator."

But Am-heh didn't kill the Director, not immediately at least.

"Was the show everything you hoped for?" Am-heh asked.

"Indeed it was," the Director said with a smile behind his white porcelin mask. "It seems strange. When I was a prim'ta, I felt as if I had forever, that death lay so far in the future I need not worry about it. Now, as I lay here, I cannot help but think of how quickly my life went by." Am-heh carefully sat down beside his former master.

"Tell me, Director, why are you so obsessed with theatre?" Am-heh asked. The Director gave a weak laugh.

"What is life but a giant show for the audience of the future?" the Director asked. "And what is the point of living other than to do something with your time on stage worthy of applause?" He gently removed his white mask and set it aside, his long golden hair coming loose from under his hood. "The show's over now. I've taken my bow and it's high time I make my exit."

"Yes," Am-heh agreed, slowly drawing out his dagger. "Yes, it is."

-.-

"_Workers still continue to clear out the debris left from the raid on an unnamed terrorist group three days ago. Many believe that this, however, was a cover up linked to this so-called stargate. As you can see, many have taken to the streets, demanding the government tell the truth about the stagate. Others believe it is a mere hoax and are offended that someone could create a story with the deaths of so many service men and women."_

Nova clicked the TV off. The countries involved with the stargate were now investigating the SGC to see if they have been hoarding technology. Other countries were threatening to go to war unless the stargate was revealed and surrendered surrendered. And there were riots in the streets demanding the government comes clean.

"So what now?" Hailey asked.

"Well, the governments are now discussing whether we should continue covering the whole thing up or just reveal it," Nova explained. "Over a thousand documents, real and fake, were leaked out. Over a dozen cities around the world are in flames from riots. Whatever they do, they certainly have their work cut out for them."

"We'll probably back on Millennium by the time they decide."

"Hey, we can't see everything that happens. My question is: what happens to the Trust?"

"Well, all high ranking members have been captured. The Trust cells won't get any new orders now. They'll probably just die out."

Before they could continue talking, the sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. They both looked at the door.

"Colonel Carter!" they both exclaimed, immediately standing at attention.

"At ease," she quickly said with a smile.

"So...you're ok?" Hailey asked. Carter reached up and brushed a scar left on her right cheek.

"According to the doctors, I'll be fine," the Colonel said. "Not even a scratch. I wanted to congratulate the two of you. You did good." She put a hand on their shoulders. "I'm proud of both of you."

-.-

Nova certainly has missed the SGC, but it was time to go back. Everyone gathered back into the gate room, boxes and crates scattered about. More food, more weapons, and building materials, they were going back prepared. They still even had the Furling power cell that let them get back.

General Mercer stood in the control room, his hands folded behind his back. Thanks to his symbiote, all his injuries were healed and no one was the wiser.

"Well, General," Landry said, walking into the room. "Gotta say, it was a pleasure to have you back."

"It was pleasure to be back," Mercer replied, shaking Landry's hand.

Back in the gate room, Nova was adjusting her heavy backpack. It was all too familiar. She looked at Peterson.

"You got everything?" he asked. "Like, I'm sure there are a few spare kitchen sinks." Nova gave him a crooked look. "Bad joke?"

"It lacks originality," she said. "I did enjoy dinner last night."

"If you guys find a way back, you can always drop by."

"I'll do that," she said with a smile, shaking his hand.

"Well...better get going. Stay safe out there."

He turned around and headed out. The expedition was getting ready to head back.

"You got to be bloody kidding me," Martin, who had been eavesdropping from behind exclaimed. "You two have the chemistry of stale bread."

"What you're suggesting is against military regulation," Nova stated. "What happened was simply a dinner between friends."

"Friends," Martin repeated. "Right..." Nova had to chuckle at Martin's skepticism. "Hey, heads up. Cruella DaVille's comin up behind ya."

Nova turned around and spotted Charlotte Mayfield was coming through the crowd. She was back in her grey jumpsuit but the metallic chestpiece seemed familiar.

"Major Nova," she greeted. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What do you want, Mayfield?" she asked impatiently. Mayfield seemed taken back by Nova's angry response. Well, she did work with the Trust. It was obvious that Nova didn't want to talk to her, so she lowered her head and the gem in the center of the chestpiece changed from blue to red as the symbiote took over.

"Major Nova," Athena said. Nova's demeanor swiftly changed. It still wasn't a friendly one, but it was better. "I must admit, I did not believe you could produce this piece of technology."

"You can thank Colonel Carter for that."

"I would also like to thank you. It is thanks to you I am alive." Athena held out her hand. Nova stared for a moment, not sure how she felt about this. Finally, she shook it. "Good luck out there, Major."

-.-

Terra had had to admit she kinda expected Millennium to be in ruins when she got back. Only her alien friend Corin Nevec and Steven Chen were left to watch it. But, the place looked pristine. Granted, it was still damaged from over a month ago. But, it was still as beautiful as she remembered it. She looked out the window, admiring the glowing nebular clouds. It was still beautiful.

Unloading all the boxes took a few hours but once that was done, Nova went to find the rest of her team. The city was huge, but, luckily, she figured out where Corin and Chen would hang out. They were asleep in the lounge, a game station placed in front of them, game controllers in their arms and a huge GAME OVER on the screen. She smiled at the sight. Guess everyone needed a good break once and a while.

"Hey, she whispered, kicking the sofa Chen was sitting on. He bolted upright, looking around.

"Terra, you're back!" he said, jumping to his feet.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting something," Nova remarked, glancing at the screen.

"Nah, I was just kicking his ass," Chen explained, turning off the console. "Hey, Corin." Chen kicked Corin's sofa. Corin Nevec woke up a lot more slowly.

"Hey, you're back!" he said excitedly. "I guess this means it's back to work."

"We just need to unpack," Nova explained cheerfully.

"Well, I guess it's back to work for us then," Steven groaned, walking off. Corin just shrugged.

"It's good to have you back, Terra," Corin said, rushing to join Chen. Nova didn't move from her spot for a moment. She just examined the halls around her. She was home, surrounded by friends and family. She was home.

"It's good to be back," she said to herself.

_"All military personnel to the biology labs: this is not a drill. I repeat, all military personnel to Doctor Solotov's lab. This is not a drill."_

"And...moment's passed."

-.-

-.-

_"Why hello there! I've been assured that the only ones that should be receiving this message are the Lucian Alliance. I'd like you to pass this along to your leaders. From what I understand, you people have a problem with a little planet known as Earth. I'm here to make you an offer. Don't bother responding because I'll probably be dead by the time you see this. But, I've been busy and I can say that at the moment, Earth is in a bit of turmoil. The place is currently busy fighting itself. Yes, yes, they still have their ships, but if you were able to land ground forces, they would not be able to mount a proper defense. Now, this state of chaos may not last. It might get worse; they might enter nuclear war. OR, they could unite and become stronger than ever! I can't say. But, I can say that right now, they are weak. So, you can continue raiding their outposts, meddling with their operations, and delaying your inevitable defeat...or you can attack now while the predator is licking its wounds. Your choice. As for who I am: just remember me as the Director."_

-.-

-.-

_A/N: Decided to put the author's notes at the end. Apologies for the long delay. Been busy, also decided to try my hand at animation, my computer broke twice and destroyed my initial drafts each time. But, here it is. I admit, I did get a little rushed. I hope this didn't affect anything. I would also like to thank Anthropos Agnosto for giving me the idea on what to do with Athena. I was initially just going to kill her. Anyways, I hope you enjoy._


End file.
